


X^' 



MODERN ITALY 



J# 




HUMBERT T. 
(From a photograph by Brogi.) 



THE STORY OF THE NATIONS 



MODERN ITALY 

1 748- 1 898 



BY v-- 

PIETRO ORSI 

PKOFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE R. LICEO FOSCARINI, VENICE 



TRANSLATED BY 

MARY ALICE VIALLS 



NEW YORK 

G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS 

LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN 
1900 



PASQUALE VILLARI, 

FOREMOST OF LIVING ITALIAN HISTORIANS 

IN HARMONISING THE ART WITH THE SCIENCE 

OF HISTORY, I DEDICATE THIS MODEST WORK, THAT 

I MAY ENJOY THE PLEASURE OF PUBLICLY 

EXPRESSING THEREBY MY SINCERE 

ADMIRATION FOR HIS 

GENIUS 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 



Although Italy is still the favoured shrine to 
which thousands of British and American travellers 
annually flock, to find in her lakes and mountains, 
her churches, picture-galleries and ruins, the goal of 
their pilgrimage, whilst the magic names of Rome, 
Florence and Venice c.re as household words upon 
their lips, yet the inner history of the peninsula — a 
record fraught with the profoundest human interest — 
has been strangely neglected, even by those who, it 
might be reasonably supposed, would be its closest 
students. But it ought not to be forgotten that the 
country, which we are so apt to regard as simply a 
paradise of nature as well as of art, has a practical 
demand on our sympathies quite as strong as its 
hold on our imaginations. 

Whilst the picturesque heroes of Roman story are 
familiar traditions of our schooldays, Charles Albert — 
that most noble and pathetic of kingly figures — 
Cavour — the pilot who steered the bark of Italian 
independence safely home to port, between the rocks 
of absolutist reaction and the whirlpool of revolu- 
tionary fanaticism — and many more, are, especially 



vi m.4XS/..-1T0A''S PREFACE 

to the younger generation, too often mere names. 
To familiarise his readers with the pioneers of 
modern Italy and their work, is the object of Pro- 
fessor Pietro Orsi who, from his distinguished 
academical position, commands exceptional qualifi- 
cations for such a task. It is to be regretted that 
considerations of space have forbidden the fuller 
treatment and more detailed development of so 
complex a theme as the making of the present 
Italian kingdom, but it is hoped that this compre- 
hensive resume will encourage students to explore 
the manifold phases of the movement for themselves 
and that, read in connection with this volume, the 
other Italian series in the "Story of the Nations," 
such as Sicily, Venice, and The Tuscan Republics, to 
say nothing of France and Austria, will acquire fresh 
significance as parts of a great whole. 

Italy has long been an inexhaustible treasury of art 
and literature for the English-speaking race; ought 
not then her political annals for the last hundred 
years to give her an even nobler and more strenuous 
claim on the Anglo-Saxon mind, with its keen bent 
for practical politics and unswerving devotion to 
constitutional freedom. Indeed, interest in Italian 
affairs may be said, at least, to have been a tradition 
in our literature during the last half century ; aroused 
long ago by Mr. Gladstone's eloquent protest against 
the Bourbon regime in Naples — in his two famous 
Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen — and kept alive in 
the impassioned verse of Mrs. Browning, it has, of 
late years, been stimulated by the fascinating mono- 
graphs of Madame Martinengo Cesaresco and Mr. 



TKAXSLATOR S PREFACE Vll 

J. W. Stillman's valuable work, The Union of Italy. 
Is it too much to expect that such an interest may- 
be further promoted by the following pages, wherein 
the great questions connected with the Italian 
Risorgimento are relegated to their proper place in 
the historical perspective, so that we can see them 
clear and undistorted in the sober light of fact ? 

At any rate, it is trusted that this record will form 
one more link in the already long and lasting chain 
which binds united Italy to England, and that it will 
likewise be a factor in ensuring for Italians Trans- 
atlantic suffrages, for surely America, with her own 
cherished traditions of liberty, will not be slow to 
lend a sympathetic ear to the " story " of a nation 
that, in her gallant struggle for independence, has 
won her way, in spite of internal anarchy and foreign 
oppression, out of the darkness and confusion of the 
old unhappy past, to the dawn of a new day that 
brings her the inestimable blessings of unity and 
freedom. 

MARY ALICE VIALLS. 

London, 
October, 1899. 



CONTENTS 



Italy after Aquisgrana 1-34 

Kingdom of Sardinia — Lombardy — Republic of Venice — 
Republic of Genoa — Parma and Piacenza — Modena and 
Reggio — Grand duchy of Tuscany — States of the Church — 
Naples and Sicily — Poetry of Giuseppe Parini — Vittorio 
Alfieri and nationalist ideal. 



II. 



Italy during the French Revolution 



36-48 



Effect of French revolution in Italy — First campaign of 
Napoleon Bonaparte (1796-97) — Origin of the Italian tri- 
colour flag — Fall of the Venetian Republic — New 
democratic regime — Italy conquered by the French — Austro- 
Russian victory and triumph of reaction — Exiles of 1799 and 
ideal of a united Italy. 



III. 



The Napoleonic Regime 



49-64 



Napoleon's passage of the St. Bernard, and battle of 
Marengo — Convocation of Lyons and Italian Republic — 
Francesco Melzi — Kingdom of Italy — Eugene Beauharnais 
— Conquest of kingdom of Naples —Abolition o.f temporal 
power of the Popes —Italian provinces annexed to French 
ix 



X CONTENTS 



empire — Awakening of Italian life under Napoleonic regime 
— Kingdom of Naples under Joseph Bonaparte and Joachim 
Murat — Bourbon court in Sicily — Constitution of 1812 — 
Abdication of Napoleon — Restoration of the ancient order — 
The ' Hundred Days ' — Fall of Napoleon — ^Joachim Murat 
— His loss of the throne — Last effort and death. 



IV. 

The Restoration : Old Governments and New 

Peoples 65-74 

Congress of Vienna and re-adjustment of Italy — Austrian 
predominance — \ictor Enniianuel I. returns to Piedmont — 
Lombardo- Venetian provinces under Austria — Condition of 
the duchies— Mildness of Tuscan rule — Papal States — Ferdi- 
nand I., King of the Two Sicilies — Holy Alliance and 
liberalism. 



Revolutionary j^eginnings .... 75-93 

Carbonarism — Revolution at Naples (1820) — Expedition 
sent by Holy Alliance against the constitutionalists and 
restoration of absolutism — Revolution in Piedmont (1821) — 
Conduct of Charles Albert — Restoration of absolute rule 
with Charles Felix — Political prosecutions in the Lombardo- 
Venetian States — Cruelty of Francis IV. of Modena and his 
designs on the Sardinian succession — Congress of Verona — 
Charles Albert in Spain. 



VI. 

Ten Years of Reaction 94-106 

Italy from 1821 to 1830 — Francis IV. of Modena and Giro 
Menotti — Revolution of 1831 — United Italian provinces — 
Austrian intervention and re-establishment of ancient 
governments — Memorandum of the Powers to the Pope. 



CONTENTS XI 

VII. 

. - ^ , PAGE 

Giuseppe Mazzini and 'Young Italy' . .107-121 

Letter of Alazzini to Charles Albert — 'Young Italy' — 
Conspirators of '33— Expedition of Savoy — Stern repressions 
— Ferdinand II. of Naples — The Sicilian risings — Art and 
science as factors in the nationalist cause. 



VIII. 
The Force of Public Opinion ' . . 122-128 

Death of the Bandiera brothers^Gioberti and his Primato . 
Degli Italiani — Balbo's Speranze D'' Italia — Pontificate of 
Gregory XVI. — D'Azeglio's Ultimi Cast Di Ro??iagna. 

IX. 

From Reforms to Revolution . . . 129-159 

Charles Albert and Austrian tactics — Pius IX. and reforms 
— Sudden awakening of the national conscience — Popular 
agitation, and behaviour of the princes — Charles Albert's 
reforms — Palermo insurrection — Constitution granted in the 
Neapolitan States, Piedmont, Tuscany and Rome. 



The War of 1848 ...... 160-193 

Lombardo-Venetian States at the beginning of 1848 — 
Sanguinary policy of Austrian government — Liberation of 
Venice — The ' Five Days ' at Milan — War of Indepen- 
dence — First successes of the Italian arms — Allocution of 
Pius IX. — The 15th of May at Naples, and withdrawal of 
the Neapolitan troops from the war — Tuscans at Curtatone 
and Montanara — Last victories of the Piedmontese — Defeat 
of Custoza — Retreat — Armistice — Vicissitudes of Italian states 
at the end of 1848— Heroic defence of Venice. 
I a 



Xll CONTENTS 

XL 

PAGE 

The War of 1849 194-215 

Struggle between Piedmont and Austria resumed — Defeat of 
Novara and abdication of Charles Albert — The ' Ten 
Days ' of Brescia — Restoration of absolutism in the king- 
dom of Naples — Submission of Sicily — Re-establishment 
of grand-ducal government in Tuscany — The Roman 
Republic — French intervention — Garibaldi — Determined re- 
sistance of Venice — Daniele Manin. 

XII. 

The Beginning of Victor Emmanuel II. 's 

Reign 216-232 

Victor Emmanuel's interview with Radetzky at Vignale— 
Reaction triumphant throughout Europe — Peace concluded 
with Austria — Massimo D'Azeglio and ' Proclamation of 
Moncalieri ' — Gladstone's letter on the Bourbon government 
— Deplorable condition of rest of Italy — Prosecutions at 
Mantua — 6th of February, 1853, at Milan — Memorandum of 
Cavour — Assassination of the Duke of Parma. 

XIII. 
The Star of Piedmont 233-245 

Cavour, president of the Ministry — • Development of 
nationalist feeling — Part taken by Piedmont in Crimean 
war — Cavour at the Paris Congress — Centralisation of 
Italian life in Sardinian kingdom — ^Revolts in kingdom ot 
Naples — Expedition of Sapri — Change of Austrian policy 
in Lombardo- Venetian States — Bold attitude of Piedmont 
and speech of Cavour — Alliance with France. 

XIV. 
The V^ar of 1859 246-268 

Preparation for a new war — Speech of Cavour — Austrian 
ultimatum — Victor Emmanuel's manifesto — Condition of 
rival armies — Montebello, Palestro, Magenta and Melegnano 



CONTENTS XI 11 

PAGE 

— Garibaldi and his ' Cacciatori delle Alpi ' — Solferino and 
San Marlino — Preliminaries of Villafranca and Peace of 
Zurich — Cession of Savoy and Nice to France — Fusion of 
Parma, Modena, Romagna and Tuscany with Piedmont. 

XV. 
The March of 'the Thousand' . . . 269-284 

Francis II. King of Naples — Garibaldi and 'The Thousand ' 
from Quarto to Marsala, Calatafimi, Palermo and Milazzo 
— Victor Emmanuel's army in the Marches and Umbria — 
Volturno — English sympathy for Italian cause — Capitulation 
of Gaeta — Kingdom of Italy proclaimed. 

XVI. 

The Roman Question 286-302 

Cavour's speeches on the Roman question — Death of the 
great minister — Difficulties in new kingdom — Brigandage — 
Line taken by ' party of action ' — Aspromonte — Garibaldi's 
visit to England — Convention of September, 1864, and 
transference of capital from Turin to Florence. 

XVII. 
The War of 1866 303-309 

Alliance of Italy and Prussia — Condition of the armies — 
Battle of Custoza — Garibaldi in the Trentino — Naval 
engagement at Lissa — Peace of Prague — Venetia annexed to 
kingdom of Italy. 

XVIII. 

Rome the Capital 310-316 

Garibaldi and the volunteers in Papal States — Intervention 
of France and battle of Mentana — Neutrality of Italy during 
the Franco-Prussian war — Occupation of Rome by Italian 
troops, September 20, 1870 — ' Law of guarantees.' 



Xiv CONTENTS 

XIX. 



Italy AFTER 1870 318-348 

Internal administration — Death of Mazzini — The ' Right ' 
and ' Left ' — Advent of ' Left ' to power — Death of Victor 
Emmanuel — Death of Pius IX. and election of Leo. XIII. 
— Origin of Triple Alliance— Death of Garibaldi — Internal 
reforrns and development of public works— Occupation of 
Assab and Massowah — Italian affairs in Africa — Bank 
prosecutions and commercial morality — The riots of May, 
1898— Turin Exhibition— Italy in 1899 — Population— Royal 
Family — Constitution of the state — National exchequer — 
Army and navy — Imports and exports— Education — Chief 
cities. 

XX. 

Literature and Art . . . . . 349-3S4 

Revival of literature and art — Eighteenth century poets — 
Classicism — Romantic School — Political tendencies in Italian 
literature — Historical research — Musicians — New epoch — 
Historians— J ournalism — Criticism — Later poets — NoveHsts 
— The drama — 1 aintingand sculpture — Music — Science, &c. — 
Conclusion. 

Appendix 385 

Index . , . . . . . • . 389 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Humbert J. . . . 

Map of Italy 

The Royal Palace, Turin 

The Doge's Palace, Venice 

The Ducal Palace, Genoa 

The Pitti Palace, Florence 

The Vatican 

The Royal Palace, Naples 

VlTTORIO AlFIERI 

The Royal Palace, Caserta 
Theatre of San Carlo, Naples 
Arco Della Pace, Milan . 
Joachim Murat 
Gabriele Rossetti . 
Santorre di Santarosa 



Frontispiece 

PAGE 
, I 

• 5 

• 13 
17 
21 
25 

. 29 

35 

• 39 

47 

• 55 
63 

• 77 
85 



XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Ferdinand II. of Naples . . . • n? 

Charles Albert, King of Sardinia . . 131 

Pius IX. . . . . . -135 

Leopold II., Grand Duke of Tuscany . 139 

Ruggero Settimo . . , .153 

Daniele Manin ..... 189 

Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa . . . 199 

Giuseppe Mazzini ..... 205 

Giuseppe Garibaldi .... 209 

Victor Emmanuel II. . . . -217 

Massimo D'Azeglio . . . .221 

The Carignano Palace, Turin . . . 225 

Camillo Cavour .... 235 

The Madama Palace, Turin . . . 247 

Napoleon III. ..... 261 

Nino Bixio ..... 273 

Enrico Cialdini ..... 281 

The Montecitorio Palace, Rome . . 285 

Betting Ricasoli ..... 291 

Urbano Rattazzi .... 299 

Alfonso la Marmora .... 305 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



XVU 



Alfredo Cappellini 

The Quirinal 

Marco Minghetti 

The Madama Palace, Rome 

H.R.H. THE Princess of Naples 

Prince Amadeo 

H.R.H. THE Prince of Naples 

LuiGi Carlo Farini 



PAGE 
308 

• 329 

337 

• 339 
343 

• 363 





Modern Italy." S/ori/ of the Nations Series, 



ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 



The traveller who enters Italy by the Mont 
Cenis tunnel is confronted by a race whose tempera- 
ment is as hard as the alpine granite and cold as the 
long alpine winters — a race toughened, braced and 
disciplined to duty by the constant exercise of arms, 
whose integrity is preserved and whose interests are 
guarded by rulers of the honoured dynasty of Savoy. 

From the eleventh century this princely house, 
originally from Maurienne, had begun to extend 
its dominion in Piedmont, and, by means of its 
ability and perseverance, had gradually succeeded 
in subjugating the whole of the province ; in fact, 
by the first half of the eighteenth century, Charles 
Emmanuel III. had extended the frontier of his 
territory on the side of the Milanese from the Sesia 
to the Ticino. Besides Piedmont and Savoy — the 
cradle of the race — this family had held for centuries 
the city and province of Nice, and thus possessed 
a maritime port which assured a free access to 
the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Here indeed 
they had obtained the sovereignt}- of an island 

2 



2 ITALY AFTER AQTISGRANA 

which brought to the House of Savoy that royal 
title coveted by so many generations of its princes.' 
It was war which had led to these results, and by 
war alone could they be heightened or modified. 
Thus, from the period extending from 1748 to 
1792, during which Italy was at peace, no changes 
whatever affected the dominions of the House of 
Savoy. 

The territories in question contained about three 
million two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, 
of whom nearly two million eight hundred thousand 
belonged to the mainland and only four hundred 
and fifty thousand to Sardinia. This island had 
been reduced by four centuries of Spanish misrule 
to the most deplorable condition ; uncultivated and 
destitute of roads, a great part of it was almost 
wholly owned by feudatories, mostly of Spanish 
origin. Some few of the great and radical reforms 
that it needed were indeed introduced, but with 
little effect. 

Piedmont, on the contrary, had the appearance of 
a highly cultivated province, with its lowlands rich 
in mulberries and vines ; moreover, the land was 
divided to such an extent that nearly all the agri- 
culturists were landed proprietors as well. Industries 
were developing, it is true, but they were subject 

' By the peace of Utrecht (1713) Victor Amadeus II. of Savoy had 
gained Sicily, but in consequence of the attempts of Cardinal Alberoni 
— the Spanish minister--to recover the lost Italian provinces, the 
Emperor had insisted on \'ictor Amadeus ceding Sicily to him and 
taking in exchange Sardinia : hence the title of the new kingdom — a 
title preserved by the Mouse of Savoy up till i86i, when Victor 
Emmanuel II. assumed that of ' King of Italy.' 



COURT OF TURIh 3 

to a whole code of minute regulations which, 
although meant to foster their increase, in reality 
only hindered it. The capital of the kingdom — Turin 
— only contained seventy-five thousand inhabitants, 
but its clean, level streets and its wide, regular 
squares, gave the city a very attractive aspect, so 
that Montesquieu, who visited it in 1728, pronounced 
it " le plus beau village du inonde." 

The court of Turin, although free from the vices 
of that of Versailles, was organised on much the 
same basis. A retinue of fully three hundred and 
thirty courtiers surrounded the monarch, and the 
annual e.xpenditure amounted to more than two 
million francs — representing the tenth part of the 
national revenue. From these courtiers — all of whom 
were, naturally, nobles — were chosen the ministers 
and all other state functionaries. The aristocracy 
likewise monopolised the highest dignities in the 
Church, whilst no less than two thousand five hundred 
of its members served in the army, and it was for 
them that the various officers' ranks were reserved. 
In consideration of these privileges all the noblesse 
were bound by absolute obedience to the sovereign, 
even in matters affecting their private life ; and 
this rigorous dependence was all the more irksome, 
inasmuch that, in such a miniature kingdom, the 
monarch could keep himself accurately informed as 
to the affairs of his subjects. This must have pro- 
voked discontent among the more independent of 
the members of his entourage, whose natures must 
have resented such servitude : however, in view of 
the fact that the royal family was easy-going and 



4 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

well-intentioned, such a discontent would not be 
likely to have any very serious results. 

Count Vittorio Alfieri himself, though an ardent 
hater of tyrants, wrote, apropos of Victor Amadeus III. 
(who reigned from 1773 to 1796): "Although I do 
not like kings in general, and still less arbitrary 
ones, I am bound to admit that the family of our 
princes is excellent, especially when you come to 
compare it with all the other reigning houses of 
Europe. And in my inmost heart I rather feel 
affection for them than otherwise, seeing that this 
king — like his predecessor Charles Emmanuel III. 
— has the best intentions, the most charming dis- 
position and exemplary temper, and has done his 
country a great deal more good than harm." ' 
Unfortunately, Victor Amadeus III., although con- 
scientious and upright, was deficient in strength of 
character and a knowledge of his times, so that it 
can be understood how, under a prince of such 
temperament, promotion was granted to the most 
worthless courtiers. 

The clergy counted as a powerful influence, at 
this period, in the state. Without reckoning Sar- 
dinia and Savoy, there were not less than twenty 
thousand priests and twelve thousand monks and 
nuns in the province of Piedmont alone. The Church 
possessed its own tribunals and prisons ; it claimed 
the exclusive right of judging cases against ecclesias- 
tics and sought to establish its own competency 
against that of the laity in all that had to do with 
matters of faith, questions of heresy, matrimonial 
' Vita di Viltorio Alfieri. 



6 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

suits, &c. The priesthood formed a wealthy, as 
well as a numerous body ; not so the nobles, 
among whom there were very few who could boast 
of an annual income of fifty thousand francs. Both 
noblesse and priesthood were, however, in a great 
measure exempted from taxation, the burden of 
which hence fell on the other classes of society. 

The bourgeoisie naturally viewed the privileges of 
the nobility as a grievance. The richer members 
of the middle classes tried to acquire titles and thus 
to become ennobled themselves. Men who had 
risen through wealth and education, keenly realised 
the odium of those social differences which were 
continually making themselves felt, as, for example, 
in the fashion of dress, and although they were 
devoted supporters of an ancient and glorious throne, 
would have welcomed many reforms had the latter 
been introduced. 

Just at this period, many men, distinguished by 
genius and learning, began to emerge from the ranks 
of the Piedmontese bourgeoisie. Seeing themselves 
neglected by the government, and not finding a 
favourable milieu, in so-far uncultured Piedmont, 
they sought for protection and honours elsewhere. 
Thus Giuseppe Baretti (1716-1789), the eminent 
critic, author of the Frusta Letteraria, lived for 
many years in England ; the illustrious historian. 
Carlo Denina (i 731 -18 13), the author of the 
Rivoluzioni Ultalia, incurred the bitter hatred of 
the friars on account of his book, Dell'Inipiego 
Delle Persone, and to avoid their persecution, took 
refuge in Berlin, whither Frederic II. had invited 



VICTOR AMADEUS III.: LOMBARDV 7 

him, and thence went to Paris where he died ; whilst 
the great mathematician, Luigi Lagrange (1736- 
181 3), also passed the most important years of his 
life in Berlin and Paris. Thus the influential 
members of the middle class who would have been 
most capable of initiating a movement of ideas, 
emigrated instead. 

The King, Victor Amadeus III., thought of 
nothing but the army, and on this he lavished all 
his time and attention. He adopted P>ederic II. 
as his model and for this reason affected Prussian 
uniforms, weapons, and discipline for his soldiers ; but 
these innovations served more for external display 
rather than for any practical purpose. He devoted 
enormous sums to the furtherance of his plans ; out 
of a revenue of twenty million francs, ten were mono- 
polised for the expenses of the army. As might 
have been expected, the financial administration did 
not prosper ; the deficit, that had begun some years 
before, as well as the taxes, went on continually in- 
creasing. But notwithstanding, he pursued his way, 
strangely heedless of whither it tended and abso- 
lutely ignoring the new order of things. 

* 
* * 

Passing beyond the Ticino, we reach that beautiful 
and fertile plain of Lombardy which was formerly 
the centre and living nucleus of the Italian communes: 
many of the magnificent buildings which now 
embellish its cities, as well as some of the most 
useful public works which make this region the 
true paradise of Italy, date back to that glorious 



8 ITALY AFTER AQU/SGRANA 

epoch. This flourishing state of things had con- 
tinued under the Visconti and Sforza regimes, but 
no sooner had Spanish rule supplanted the latter, 
than all progress was arrested, though it is worthy 
of note that the decadence of Lombardy was 
not so rapid as that of Naples and Sicily. At 
the beginning of the eighteenth century the 
Milanese had passed to Austrian rule under which 
it had been amalgamated with Mantua, the latter 
having been deprived of the Gonzaga dynasty 
which in the last wars had declared against the 
empire. 

Under the new order the Lombardy province 
began to recover from the miserable condition to 
which it had been reduced by Spanish mis-govern- 
ment. When the war of the Austrian Succession 
was ended and Maria Theresa's position had been 
established, an epoch of material and intellectual 
regeneration was inaugurated for Lombardy. The 
whole of the administration was reorganised ; the 
taxes were more fairly distributed ; the privileges 
of the clergy were reduced ; the Liquisition and right 
of asylum were abolished ; the streets were improved ; 
agriculture was assisted and an impulse was given to 
industry and commerce. The country, moreover, 
followed the initiative of the government, in spite 
of the latter being that of the foreigner. The leading 
families had a share in public affairs ; thus we can 
see the Belgioioso, Visconti, Serbelloni, Trivulzio, 
Castelbarco, D'Adda, Pallavicini, Borromeo and 
Litta houses represented in high offices of the state. 
These and other families, all very wealthy, lived in 



MILAN : PA VIA 9 

great splendour and entertained with much mag- 
nificence. 

Indeed, at this epoch Milan could rank as the 
first of Italian cities. In 1778 the theatre of 
La Scala was opened ; it suddenly acquired fame 
through the wonderful stage representations there 
given. Learning flourished likewise : in many salons 
of the upper classes, literary and scientific men 
found a favourable reception, and the new theories 
of French philosophy were discussed. Milan, in 
fact, became a nursing-ground for these modern 
notions. In 1761 the Marquis Cesare Beccaria 
published his valuable little work Dei Delitti E Delle 
Pene, in which he advocated the abolition of torture 
and the death penalty, and suggested a more 
equitable adjustment of punishments to crimes. 
Shortly afterwards, Count Pietro Verri — one of the 
most worthy and zealous promoters of civil reforms — 
and his brother Alessandro, a man of recognised 
literary ability, with Beccaria and others, brought out 
a periodical entitled // Caffe, in which for more than 
a year, they treated, for the public benefit, ques- 
tions affecting legislation, morals, history and letters, 
and proclaimed unexpected truths in no uncertain 
voice. 

Milan itself then contained one hundred and thirty 
thousand inhabitants, and those in the remainder of 
the province were computed at a million. Among the 
lesser towns, Pavia was celebrated for its university 
where the government had gathered together such 
distinguished men as the physician, Alessandro Volta, 
the naturalist, Spallanzani, and the mathematician 



lO ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

Mascheroni. In other places, as, for example, in 
Como, the industries were thriving. The country 
was admirably cultivated and provided with an 
organised net-work of irrigation canals, but the 
peasant possessed hardly anything of his own — a 
deprivation which forcibly aggravated the wretched- 
ness of his existence. 

There was much property in the hands of the 
clergy, who, in spite of all the reforms which had 
been made, were still flourishing and numerous ; the 
tale of priests, monks and nuns amounted to about 
eighteen thousand. Joseph II., who, after the death 
of his mother, Maria Theresa, in 1780, assumed the 
reins of power, acted with great energy in the 
matter of ecclesiastical administration ; he abolished 
convents that he judged useless and all those re- 
ligious communities which did not maintain schools, 
assist the sick, preach, hear confessions or distin- 
guish themselves by their learning, ruling that 
their existence was to depend on the bishop of the 
diocese, rather than on the general of the order 
residing at Rome ; he diminished the number of 
festivals and prescribed a thousand other remedies of 
a disciplinary character, encroaching thereby even on 
the pontifical jurisdiction itself At the same time 
he restricted the power of the nobles and issued an 
infinite number of decrees and laws, renewing and 
transforming the whole of the administration. It 
must be admitted, however, that he wished to assure the 
welfare of his subjects by 'sledge-hammer' methods, 
and consequently respected neither their traditions, 
interests nor habits. His work, drastic, hasty and 



REPUBLIC OF VENICE II 

centralising as it was, did not always give satisfaction, 
but nevertheless it left deep traces on the country. 
The latter, inured by centuries of habit to a foreign 
yoke, hardly resented such, but was content to make 
the most of a material prosperity and a flourishing 
condition of letters, and to ignore the development of 

reforms. 

* 
* * 

Venice, on the contrary, was uninfluenced by these 
new ideas ; whilst all the world around her was re- 
forming itself, she sought to preserve intact the edifice 
of the past, fearing, that were but one stone shaken, 
the whole might crumble. The province of about 
three million inhabitants was ruled by a single city, 
or rather by one class alone of Venetian citizens who 
governed by hereditary right ; the mainland — that is 
to say, Venetia, Istria and Dalmatia, and the small 
territory that the Republic still possessed in the East, 
had no share in the government. The sovereignty 
belonged to the Great Council composed of all the 
Venetian patricians over the age of twenty-five ; in 
1780 their number amounted to a thousand and 
twenty-three. The Great Council, or Maggior Con- 
siglio, elected from its midst the Senate, which was 
composed of about two hundred and fifty members, 
and was responsible for the conduct of affairs ; but 
the real centre of executive authority was the Lesser 
Council, or Signoria, constituted by the Doge, by his 
six councillors, by the three chiefs of the Council 
of Forty {Quarantia), and by the Council of Sixteen 
Wise Men {Savii) who were elected by the Senate. 
The Doge by himself could do nothing, he was not 



12 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

allowed even to read the letters addressed to him 
by foreign powers, but was onl)^ the apparent head 
of the state. 

Such a political order did not harmonise with 
the new age ; already the Veronese savant, the 
Marquis Scipione Maffei, had addressed, as far back 
as 1736, his Consiglio Politico, to the Venetian 
rulers, in which he pointed out the propriety of 
interesting the provinces in the fate of the Republic, 
and of giving them a share in the government, as a 
means beneficial to the vitality of the state, but his 
advice was unheeded. The nobles of the predomi- 
natinp" houses trusted in the unbroken continuance of 

o 

their oligarch)', and if an\- among them allowed them- 
selves to be influenced by the new French ideas, they 
ran the risk of sharing the unhappy fate which awaited 
Angelo Ouerini, Giorgio Pisani, and Carlo Contarini, 
who, in their efforts to introduce reforms into the 
existing system of affairs, were arrested and con- 
demned to many years of imprisonment. The 
governing authorities looked upon these proposals 
as the vagaries of a visionary and factious }'Outh, 
and imagined the perfection of political science to 
consist in keeping intact the normal order of things 
in the Republic. 

The same principle was also applied to external poli- 
tics. The last war carried on by Venice had been that 
against the Turks — 17 14 to 171 8 — in which she lost 
the Morea. Thenceforward the Republic took refuge 
in absolute isolation and complete inaction. She 
stood in fear, indeed, of the ambitious views of Austria, 
but dared not declare herself inimical to the latter, or 



14 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

venture to ratify an alliance with France ; therefore, in 
the various wars waged in Italy, in the first half of the 
eighteenth century, she preserved a neutrality, which 
being, as it were, unarmed, obtained, at least, respect. 
Hence her power in the eyes of Europe was already 
rapidly on the wane. Moreover the last campaign 
sustained by Venice had proclaimed to the world not 
only her inherent weakness, but also the deficiency 
of her military equipment. In that arsenal — in past 
times so justly celebrated — there were but a few 
vessels in course of construction, a scant number of 
workmen and indifferent munitions of war. The 
army was in a worse condition than the fleet and 
consisted of barely twenty thousand ill-clad and 
undisciplined troops. Rightly enough did the old 
patrician, Francesco Pesaro, exclaim : " We live 
under the protection of the good faith of our friends 
and neighbours, and in that we put our trust ! " 

This perilous situation, which ought to have 
awakened keen anxiety, did not in the least affect 
the pleasure-loving and frivolous existence led by the 
Venetians. All the idlers of Europe willingly found 
their way to Venice where there existed an ample 
license for pleasure ; it was the custom to wear masks 
for a good half of the year ; manners were very free, 
not to say demoralised, and the passion for play was 
widespread. The famous adventurer, Francesco 
Casanova, in his Meniorie, has represented — certainly 
not without some exaggeration — the gay and idle life 
of the Venetians at this epoch. T\\€\x fetes were fre- 
quent and magnificent ; some few families possessed 
vast incomes. The clergy were likewise wealthy and 



DECLINE OF I'EXICE : REPUBLIC OF GENOA 1 5 

numerous ; the province was reckoned to contain 
nearly forty thousand priests, monks and nuns. In the 
main, however, the country was not rich ; its industries 
were greatly reduced, although its inhabitants viewed 
the decline of its commerce with indifference. The 
one work of great utility achieved at this time was the 
long breakwater against the inroads of the sea, con- 
sisting of the huge marble walls called the Murazzi. 
Certainly the taxes were not heavy — a fact which 
caused the government to be favourably regarded by 
the majority, especially by the lower classes. 

Though the sun of the Republic was setting, it was 
sinking in a flood of gorgeous colour ; the brilliant 
reflection of those fine arts, represented by the music 
of Benedetto Marcello (1686- 1739), the paintings of 
G. B. Triepolo (1693- 1770) and the comedies of Carlo 
Goldoni, the renowned reformer of the Italian stage 
( 1 707-1 793), cast, as it were, luminous rays of glory 
over the moribund state, suggestive though they 
might be of the hectic splendours of decay. 

* * 

Much less political importance had the Republic of 
Genoa, henceforth Reduced to the mere possession of 
the Ligurian coasts, with barely four hundred thousand 
inhabitants. Weary of the constant revolts of Corsica, 
it had, at length (1768), ceded to Louis XV. all its 
rights in this island which after an obstinate resis- 
tance had been obliged to submit to France. Pasquale 
Paoli, the hero of Corsican independence, embarked 
with some followers in a British vessel and sought an 
asylum in luigland. In the struggle against Corsica, 



1 6 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

Genoa had displayed all her weakness ; neverthe- 
less, her people were still bold and warlike and 
had given striking proofs of courage in the famous 
days of December, 1746, when they expelled the 
Austrians and Russians from the city. But these 
transitory efforts did not suffice to imbue with 
energy and vitality a government with no more 
glorious ambition than that of living in peace and 
quiet. 

In Genoa likewise, the reins of power were in the 
hands of the aristocracy ; but, contrary to the Venetian 
custom where he was elected for life, here the Doge 
only remained in office two years. He was nominated 
by the Great Council, but the nobles drew lots for the 
other offices in the state, and from this custom origi- 
nated the lotto system, which afterwards obtained in 
many Italian states. The activity of the people was 
entirely absorbed by commerce which continued to 
flourish, for Genoa was, indubitably, the most im- 
portant of all Italian seaports. 

* 
* * 

The two duchies of Parma and Modena counted for 
very little in the political balance of Italy. The 
dukedoms of Parma and Piacenza had been created 
in 1545 by Pope Paul III., a member of the Farnese 
family, for the advantage of his son Pier Luigi. This 
house which never especially distinguished itself, be- 
came extinct in 173 1. The duchy, after many vicissi- 
tudes, finally passed in 1748 to Don Philip of Bourbon 
— the second son of Elizabeth, the sister of the last 
Farnese, who had become Queen of Spain — with 



1 8 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

whom the Bourbon dynasty was initiated at Parma. 
Under the influence of his first minister, Guillaume 
Du Tillot, a Frenchman, Don PhiHp inaugurated im- 
portant reforms, set hmits to the privileges of the 
noblesse and the immunity of the priesthood, and 
encouraged arts and letters to such an extent that 
Parma became one of the most cultured cities in 
Italy. 

Du Tillot's work of reformation was carried on 
even after the death of Don Philip in 1765, during the 
minority of Duke Ferdinand, but when the latter 
attained his majority, Du Tillot saw his power decline 
and eventually retired. The young Duke, edu- 
cated under the influence of Condillac and Mably, 
became — as frequently happens in such cases — a 
believer, nay a devot ; he sang in the choir with the 
monks, embellished altars, gave audiences in the 
sacristy and amused himself by ringing the bells ; all 
these employments, however, did not prevent him 
from leading a dissolute life. Under such a prince, 
not only were further reforms hindered, but those 
already achieved were abolished. 

This state contained a little more than four hun- 
dred thousand inhabitants and fewer still did the 
adjoining duchy of Modena possess, i.e., three hundred 
and eighty thousand. The province was then 
governed by Hercules III., the last representative of 
that ancient house of Este which, at one time, had 
acquired such wide renown through the magnificence 
of its court and the protection it had given to arts 
and letters. For nearly two centuries, however, this 
dynasty had lost its ancient capital, Ferrara— annexed 



HERCULES III. : TUSCANY I9 

by the pontifical government in the year 1598 — and 
it had been compelled to withdraw to Modena and 
rest content with the latter territory and Reggio : 
naturally, from this epoch, its histor}^ had only 
a restricted and local importance. Hercules III. 
managed to exist quietly without troubling his head 
about innovations or clashing with the papal court ; 
indeed, his one object was to make money. It is said 
that with three million francs of income, he found 
means of annually saving a third. He had only one 
daughter, Beatrice, given in marriage to the Arch- 
duke Ferdinand of Austria, a son of Maria Theresa 
who had gladly furthered such an alliance since it 
greatly served to extend Austrian influence in Italy. 

* 
* * 

The chief princely Italian families seemed fated to 
disappear nearly at the same time. In 1737, that 
house of Medici whose name is as intimately 
associated with literature and the fine arts as it is with 
the history of Florence, and which had represented, 
in truth, the sovereignty predestined for an artistic 
race, became extinct. Its last scions had hardly 
carried on worthily their ancestral traditions and had 
allowed Tuscany to decay rapidly ; the only notable 
work achieved by them had been the foundation 
and embellishment of Leghorn which was to become 
an important commercial centre. 

By the peace of Vienna (1738) the grand duchy 
of Tuscany had been assigned to Francis of Lorraine, 
husband of Maria Theresa. fie was not long in 
Tuscany for he found himself embroiled in the 



20 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

great wars of the Austrian Succession and afterwards 
ascended the imperial throne. However, his ministers 
laid the bases of reforms to which his second son, 
Peter Leopold I., who succeeded him in the dukedom 
m 1765, subsequently gave great impetus. 

Even to-day the memory of Leopold L is still 
cherished in Tuscany with deep affection and 
gratitude and he is regarded, with justice, as 
one of the most distinguished of Italian reforming 
rulers. With an entourage that comprised such 
men as Pompeo Neri, Giulio Rucellai and others, 
Leopold set himself to destroy every trace of mediae- 
valism. Above all, he aimed at diminishing the 
power of the priesthood, a necessary step in Tuscany 
where, under the later Medici, the clergy had acquired 
extraordinary wealth and influence ; in a population 
of less than a million there were twenty-seven 
thousand ecclesiastics who owned, moreover, the 
greater part of the soil. Leopold sought to suppress 
their immunities and likewise protected the religious 
movement initiated by Scipione Ricci, the bishop 
of Pistoia, who desired to lead the Church back to 
its evangelical purity ; hence sharp contests with 
Rome. Leopold likewise introduced reforms in all 
other branches of public administration ; he abso- 
lutely ratified the freedom of trade in cereals ; he 
established the equality of all citizens in the matter 
of taxation and, from the first, subjected his own 
property thereto. He sought, by draining marshes, 
to better the condition of the Maremma ; he pro- 
tected commerce, and encouraged stud\' b}- reforming 
and improving the universities of Pisa and Siena, 



22 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

He was also the first among the world's rulers to 
abolish torture and the death-penalty. In 1789 he 
published a statement of government accounts of the 
revenue and expenditure from 1765 to 1788, and it 
would appear, intended granting a constitution, had 
he not been called, through the death of his brother 
Joseph II. in 1790, to fill the imperial throne. His 
reforms however, in general, were so above the 
comprehension of his subjects, that the majority 
of the latter failed to appraise their beneficial 
effects. 

In Tuscany too, there still existed the little 
Republic of Lucca, a relic of the communal period, 
whose territory extended as far as the sea-coast of 
Viareggio. With her population of a hundred and 
twenty thousand inhabitants, governed by a hundred 
noble families, with her noble and ecclesiastical land- 
owners and her garrison of soldiers maintained only 
for parade, Lucca was a typical miniature representa- 
tive of an Italian state in the eighteenth century. 



The popes had finally succeeded, after efforts lasting 
for several centuries, in rendering their temporal 
sovereignty indisputable and in uniting their states ; 
thus it was that the city of Bologna, which had always 
preserved something of a republican attitude and a 
certain amount of autonomy, had to renounce these 
against its will (1788). There existed, in fact, in the 
centre of the peninsula, a district comprising two 
millions and a half of inhabitants, governed by priests, 
with a papal ruler elected by cardinals who in their 



EXISTING RkoIME IN ROME 23 

turn were nominated by the pontiff with ministers 
of religion ordained by the same functionaries and 
episcopal governors. Hence, if the clergy were 
powerful in the other Italian provinces, in the papal 
dominions they were omnipotent ; for the state itself 
came to be looked upon as an ecclesiastical benefice, 
to be freely exploited, without the least regard for 
the welfare of the people or the progress of civili- 
sation. It can be easily understood how, under 
such a government, the inhabitants became not only 
inert and poor, but demoralised and vicious as 
well. 

An eminent French writer, the president, Charles de 
Brosses, who visited Rome in 1740, has recorded his 
impressions of the then-existing regime in words of 
burning indignation : " The government is as bad as it 
is possible to conceive. You feel that here is realised 
the antithesis of the Utopias that Machiavelli and 
Morus delighted to construct. Imagine, if you can, 
a population in which one fourth is composed of 
priests, one fourth of statues, another fourth of idlers, 
and a state where neither agriculture, commerce nor 
mechanics exist, in spite of its people living in the 
midst of a fertile province, on the banks of a navig- 
able river ; where the ruler, always aged, with few 
more years to live, is, as often as not, absolutely 
incapable of independent action and is surrounded 
by relatives whose one idea is to ' make hay while 
the sun shines,' and where, at each change in the 
pontificate, fresh thieves appear on the scene to sup- 
plant those who are sated with plunder, for here any 
one may become a scourge to societ)-, provided he 



24 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

be backed up by influential friends, or within reach 
of an asylum." ^ 

Francesco Becattini also, in his Storia Di Pio VI. 
(Venice, 1800), was compelled to admit that, with the 
exception of Turkey, the States of the Church were 
worse governed than any other part of Europe. 
There was an utter absence of that hard-working and 
enlightened middle-class who were beginning to 
come to the front in Northern Italy, for no bour- 
geoisie bridged the gulf between a proud and 
ignorant nobility and the proletariat. All the cities 
were besides inundated with an incredible number 
of beggars. 

Rome itself swarmed with ecclesiastics who had 
come thither, from all parts of the world, with the 
sole aim of making their fortune. All offices were 
venal, and with the revenues derived from such 
sales and the offerings of the faithful from all parts, 
the papal court had the wherewithal to draw upon, 
without grinding down its subjects by taxes ; but as 
in the country districts there was neither industry 
nor commerce, and agriculture was much neglected, 
the population suffered even by meeting such small 
taxation as was demanded of them. 

It must be owned, however, that the 'Eternal City' 
had been greatly improved during the three pre- 
ceding centuries, that is to say, after the popes had 
almost entirely given their attention to their tem- 
poral dominion, and even during these later days, 
had been enriched by the imposing colonnades of 

' Lettres Historiqiu's El Criliqites Sur V Italic, dc Charles De Brasses. 
Paris, an. vii., to/n. ii..,pp. 245-246. 



26 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

the Piazza of St. Peter, the fountains of Piazza Navona 
and Trevi, and the facade of St. John Lateran, &c., 
while the splendid collection contained in the Museo 
Pio-Clementino had been brought together. Rome, at 
that time, comprised one hundred and sixty thousand 
inhabitants. 

Pope Pius VI. ( 1 775-1 799) turned his attention 
to the country and attempted to drain the Pontine 
marshes, but spent vast sums thereon with but little 
result. This served but the better to enrich his 
nephew, Braschi, for whom the Pontiff built a palace 
in Rome. Nepotism to any great extent had indeed 
been abolished, but the Pope's relations were always 
omnipotent at court and controlled, at their own 
pleasure, the revenues of the state. This same 
Prince Braschi had for some time as his secretary 
the young priest, Vincenzo Monti, who was then 
beginning to acquire a distinguished name in the 
literary world b}^ his tragedy of Aristodeino. 
Literature and the arts were still in some measure 
represented at Rome ; the archaeologist, Ennio 
Quirino Visconti was already celebrated ; the 
sculptor, zAntonio Canova, who had arrived there, 
still young, from his native Venetian prox'ince, had 
even then attained distinction by his first works ; 
the Milanese savant, Alessandro Verri, had taken 
up his residence in the city, whilst Vittorio Alfieri had 
finished his first tragedies and had read them aloud 
in the salons: all this activity, however, only exer- 
cised a limited and nearly unapprcciable influence 
over a small and restricted circle of cultivated per- 
sons. The Roman aristocracy as well as the clergy 



NAPLES AND SICILY 2y 

neglected study, whilst the new philosophy was bit- 
terly detested because it had an evident tendency to 
abate ecclesiastical privileges.^ 



The largest Italian state was the kingdom of 
Naples and Sicily, containing about six millions 
of inhabitants. This unhappy country had been 
terribly exhausted by Spanish rule which had ruined 
the population without achieving anything for their 
good : never indeed had a government less care for 
its subjects. When the Spaniards had to evacuate 
those provinces at the commencement of the 
eighteenth century, they left them destitute alike 
of roads, industries and commerce. 

After a short Austrian dominion, the new Bourbon 
dynasty was implanted in the Neapolitan States in 
1734, in the person of Charles III., eldest son of 
Elizabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain. To him belongs 
the credit of having chosen the learned Bernardo 
Tanucci as his prime minister, who may be justly 
regarded as the inaugurator of all the reforms made 
in the kingdom. These were initiated by an attempt 
to diminish ecclesiastical immunities and privileges 
and to reduce the number of priests, monks and nuns 
which was truly astounding. On the mainland alone, 
in a population of less than five millions, there were 
one hundred thousand religious. Steps were then 

' The popes at this epoch had a hard struggle to defend the Jesuits 
who had been expelled from Portugal, France and Spain as well as 
from Naples and Parma, but finally Pope Clement XIV. determined 
in 1773, 01^ their abolition. The Order of Jesus was afterwards 
re-constituted by Pius VII. in 1814. 



28 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

taken to weaken and lessen feudalism, much stronger 
here than elsewhere in Europe, and in order to 
ensure this the more easily, the barons were invited 
to court. In the magnificence and extravagance of 
Neapolitan life many of them were fairly ruined, 
whilst this policy of absenteeism tended to lessen 
their power in the country districts. 

The city of Naples gained much from the new 
dynasty, not only in social brilliancy, but in beautiful 
buildings, such as the imposing theatre of San Carlo 
and the palace of Capodimonte. In a wish to imitate 
the splendours of Versailles, Charles III. caused the 
royal palace of Caserta to be built in an immense 
park, at the cost of six millions of ducats. Under 
his auspices also the excavations at Pompeii and 
Herculaneum — the two cities buried in the terrible 
eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79A.D. — were carried 
on. High roads in the vicinity of Naples were like- 
wise opened up, but this was more to benefit the 
court than the people at large. Pompous display 
continued to be the principal characteristic of the 
Neapolitan government, but it did not ameliorate 
the miserable condition of the country, which was 
aggravated by swarms of beggars. In Naples itself 
the laszaroni, as they were called, led an idle existence 
in the streets, living on the alms distributed to them 
at the convents. 

In 1759, Charles III., being called to the Spanish 
throne, made over his Italian possessions to his son 
Ferdinand, still a minor. Tanucci continued to 
govern the state and, by agreement with Spain, 
exjDclled the Jesuits in 1767. Later was abolished 



30 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

the chinea — a horse richly caparisoned — which it 
was the annual custom to present to the Pope, 
together with seven thousand golden scudi, as a 
symbol of the vassalage of the Neapolitan kingdom 
to the Holy See. But Tanucci verified at Naples 
what Du Tillot had experienced at Parma — the 
influence of the minister gradually waned, till, in 
1776, he received his dismissal. 

The direction of affairs, instead of passing into the 
hands of the King, was assumed by his wife, Maria 
Caroline of Austria, a daughter of Maria Theresa. 
Whilst King Ferdinand, ignorant and boorish, did 
not trouble his head about matters of state, 
Maria Caroline, a daring and ambitious woman, 
presided over the ministerial councils and in- 
troduced therein one John Acton, an Irishman, 
born at Besancon who, after having served in 
the French and Tuscan marine, had been sum- 
moned to Naples by Ferdinand and had obtained a 
high position in the navy. In a short time, Acton 
had become the favourite of the Queen and the most 
important personage in the state. He turned all his 
attention to the army and navy, both of which were 
in a truly deplorable condition ; but although he 
spent enormous sums — three millions of ducats in 
the year, out of the eleven and a half millions which 
represented the revenue of the kingdom — Acton did 
not succeed in appreciably bettering the existing 
state of things. On the contrar\', he retarded both 
civil and ecclesiastical reforms, and that, just at the 
time when the march of progress v.'as advancing 
with increased speed, owing chiefly to such writers 



SICILY: THE SICILIAN PARLIAMENT 3 1 

of eminence as Antonio Genovesi, professor of poli- 
tical economy, Gaetano Filangieri, author of that 
Storia Delia Legislazione. \\'hich exercised so great an 
influence on Neapolitan thinkers, and Mario Pagano 
who really popularised the new philosophy, and 
many others. In fact, Naples was an intellectual 
centre, where the influence of the French encyclo- 
paedists was making itself felt. 

Far in the rear of this movement of ideas was 
Sicily who had always held aloof from the current 
of European civilisation. Severed from Naples after 
the famous ' Sicilian Vespers ' in 1282, she had con- 
sisted of a separate kingdom up to the year 1409 
when the reigning Aragonese dynasty became extinct. 
She had then been made a direct dependency of 
Spain and had been governed by the latter's vice- 
roys up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. 
First relegated to Victor Amadeus II., afterwards 
to Austria, Sicily had finally been reunited to Naples 
under the Bourbons. 

Through all these vicissitudes of rule, however, the 
Sicilian parliament, which, composed of nobles, pre- 
lates and representatives, had been a distinct protest 
against feudalism, had subsisted intact ; in fact, the 
barons and ecclesiastics governed. In a population 
of one million two hundred thousand inhabitants, 
nearly eight hundred thousand were dependent on 
feudatories, and fully sixty-three thousand were 
priests, monks and nuns. From time to time the 
ignorant and famished populace revolted, as in 1773, 
but as these r;//^?^/£?5 had no political significance, being 
simply induced, for the most part, by famine, only the 



32 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 

lower orders were affected thereb}% and the existing 
rulers always succeeded in pacifying the mob by 
temporary concessions that did not, however, in the 
least ameliorate the real state of things. In 1780, the 
Marquis Domenico Caracciolo, formerly ambassador 
at Paris, was nominated viceroy. Fired by the inno- 
vating theories which he had imbibed in the French 
capital, he initiated bold reforms which the nobles 
and clergy, whose own interests were thereby hurt, 
sturdily opposed ; there was no middle class to 
support him and the proletariat was incapable of 
understanding the changes he inaugurated ; thus his 
work, but feebly supported by the court of Naples, 
was a complete failure. 



In 1789 Italy was still a paradise for the clergy and 
noblesse, but in some cities, especially in Northern 
Italy, the development of industries and commerce 
kept pace with that of the bourgeoisie, which, as it 
increased in numbers and wealth, began to give voice 
to its discontent at the social order. Amongst such 
a highly imaginative race as the Italians, the new 
notions would naturally clothe themselves in poetr}' ; 
thus Milan, that nursing-mother of innovating spirits, 
gave birth to Giuseppe Parini (1729-1799). With 
him, poetry renewed her mission of education ; his 
Giorno is a wonderful satire on the idle and empty 
existence led by the aristocrac}^ as well as a pas- 
sionate eulogy of the active good qualities of the 
lower classes. He proclaimed likewise in clear and 
lofty language the idea of social equality : 



VITTORIA ALFIERI 33 

" Forse vero non e, ma un giorno e fama 
Che fur gli uomini eguali, e ignoli nomi 
Fur plebe e nobilta." 

(Perhaps it is not true, but it is said 

That once all men were equal, and unknown, 
Plebeian, even as patrician, names. 

Parini, // Giorno.) 

The verses of Parini were widely read and found a 
powerful echo throughout the peninsula. 

But the voice which rang loudest in support of 
liberty and sounded even , as the herald of a new 
Italy, was that of the Piedmontese, Vittorio Alfieri 
( 1 749-1 803). At that time the stage excited uni- 
versal attention in Italy. Judging from appearances, 
it might have been thought that the Italians of the 
eighteenth century had no enthusiasm for anything 
but theatrical representations. All the richest and 
most magnificent theatres of Italy date from that 
epoch. As was natural, music was an important 
feature in these functions. Pergolesi, Porpora, Tar- 
tini and many more composers, won the cordial 
applause of a public that was as eager to welcome 
comedy as tragedy. In view of such a taste, Alfieri, 
a man of strong, energetic and independent character, 
tried to avail himself of the drama to stir his country- 
men — who seemed to him so irresponsive to patriotic 
sentiments — to nobler ambitions. One ideal in par- 
ticular was henceforth to be developed in Italy — that 
of nationality. Heretofore, political divisions had 
tended to alienate the inhabitants of different pro- 
vinces from one another. Each still had its in- 
dividual history and its own priwate interests, for in 

4 



34 



ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA 



every place there were only too many causes for 
hatred and rivalry. In such a milieu did Alfieri 
dare to be the first to speak aloud of Italian 
nationality and to bid his compatriots reflect on the 
ancient greatness of their country and its present 
decadence. He made them, too, feel the need of 
that re-awakening whose advent he proclaimed. 
He dwelt constantly on the idea of a new Italy, 
at a time when it was hardly thought of Hence his 
tragedies have an importance more political than 
literary, since they may really be said to have 
accelerated the formation of a national conscience. 





VITTORIO AT.FTKRI. 



II 



ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The outbreak of the French Revolution produced 
a twofold effect in Italy. On the one hand, it in- 
timidated the rulers who stopped half-way in reforms 
for which the people were now more eager than 
ever ; hence a feud which was daily aggravated by 
the authorities trying to stifle the revolutionary spirit 
now so widely spread, by a policy of arrests and 
punishments : on the other, it fomented in the middle 
class of society a faction which aimed at destroying 
all the ancient order of things and indemnified its 
numerical weakness by enthusiasm — largely profiting 
at the same time by the French invasion. 

At one time all the various Italian courts had been 
excited by the proposal of a general league against 
France ; however, mutual jealousies and rivalries had 
hindered the organisation of such a coalition. Pied- 
mont alone allied herself with Austria and, in 1792, 
hostilities commenced. Victory favoured the French 
who, in the same year, occupied Nice and Savoy, 
then made slow advances along the Ligurian coast 
and penetrated into some alpine valleys. 



36 



BONAPARTE IN ITALY 37 

In 1796 the French government entrusted the 
command of their army to the young Corsican 
genera], Napoleon Bonaparte, who initiated that 
year's campaign by addressing to his men the 
following proclamation : " Soldiers, you are ill- 
nourished and ill-clad. The government is much 
indebted to you, but can do nothing on your behalf. 
Your patience and courage are a credit to you, but 
you win therefrom neither profit nor renown. I am 
about to lead you to the most fertile plains in the 
world ; there you will find great cities and rich pro- 
vinces, there honour, glory and wealth await you. 
Soldiers of Italy, will you be wanting in courage ? " 

The soldiers were not wanting in courage, neither 
did their general lack the necessary genius for fulfil- 
ling his promises. By the fighting carried on at 
Montenotte, Millesimo and Dego, he succeeded in 
separating the allied Austrian and Piedmontese 
armies ; the Austrians were repulsed along the valley 
of the Bormida, above Acqui and Alessandria, whilst 
the Piedmontese fell back in the Tanaro valley, 
above Ceva and Mondovi. 

Bonaparte first turned his attention to the Pied- 
montese and, on the 28th of April, 1796, obliged 
King Victor Amadeus III. to make peace: as a 
result of this, the Piedmontese monarch renounced 
his clainis to Nice and Savoy, ceded several fortresses 
of Piedmont to the French and granted the latter a 
free passage through his dominions. 

Having thus safeguarded his rear, Bonaparte 
directed his energies against the Austrian army 
which had now retreated into Lombardy, and on the 



3o ITALY DURIXG THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

9th of AIa}\ his great victory at Lodi brought the 
whole of the province into his power. The Duke of 
Parma, taking fright, hastened to compromise matters 
with the invader by paying the heavy indemnity de- 
manded and making over to him twenty of the best 
pictures in his gallery.' The Duke of Modena betook 
himself with his treasures to Venice, and left his 
subjects to come to terms with the conqueror, who 
exacted from them vast sums of money and con- 
fiscated fifteen of the finest pictures in the ducal 
collection. 

The Austrians, having left a strong garrison in 
Mantua, withdrew to the mountains of T)'rol. Bona- 
parte fortifying the passages of the Adige against 
all imperialist attacks on that side, now concentrated 
his efforts against the Pope who had always strongly 
disapproved of the French Republic : Bologna, 
Ferrara and Ravenna were easily occupied, and the 
Pontiff was compelled to sue for peace. 

However, Austria had, in the meantime, prepared 
another great army which, under the command of 
Marshal Wurmser, descended the valle}^ of the Adige, 
repulsing the French troops — who were inferior in 
numbers — on all sides. But Bonaparte, rapidh' 
gathering his forces together, succeeded in routing 
the Austrians both at Lonato and Castiglione delle 
Stiviere — to the south of the Lake of Garda. In 
consequence of this battle, Wurmser retreated and 
retraced his way up the Adige valley, but having 

' Amongst these was Correggio's St. Jerome for which the duke 
vainly oft'eied to pa)' a milHon francs : these works of art, with the 
others taken by Napoleon in Italy, were nearly all restored in 1S15. 



40 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

reached Trent, he fell back again on Italy by the 
valley of the Brenta. Bonaparte, who had meantime 
steadily pursued the Austrian general, kept in his 
rear till he overtook and defeated him at Bassano ; 
Wurmser, with difficulty, managed to lead a portion of 
his army to Mantua, and thither Bonaparte hastened 
to besiege him. 

* * 

The cities of Reggio and Modena now revolted 
against the governors left in charge by the fugitive 
Duke ; the French hastened to take advantage of 
these risings by forming a provisional government, 
and thus it was that these two cities, being united 
with Bologna and Ferrara — already wrested from the 
Pope — were organised into what was known as the 
Cispadane Republic. In this way was formed the 
first Italian state after the French republican inva- 
sion : it was the first province to adopt the tricoloured 
flag, comprising the white and red of the French 
standard, but substituting for the blue stripe of the 
latter, the green one that was already in local 
military use. 

The Austrians, however, would not own them- 
selves beaten and, assisted by English gold, raised 
another army under the command of Alvinzi. By 
this means Bonaparte found himself in a critical 
situation, but once more he proved himself capable 
of overcoming what seemed insuperable difficulties, 
and in a sanguinary battle at the bridge of Arcole, 
near Verona (November, 1796), he forced his 
opponents to retire. The latter, having acquired 
new reinforcements from Tyrol, again fell back on 



BONAPARTE INVADES PAPAL STATES 4I 

Verona, but sustained a crushing defeat at Rivoli, in 
January, 1797. Shortly afterwards Mantua, being 
sorely pressed, was compelled by the besiegers to 
surrender. 

The Pope, trusting in the ultimate triumph of the 
Austrian arms, had not kept his engagements with 
the French ; Bonaparte therefore again invaded the 
Papal States and victoriously entered the Marches 
and Umbria. The Pontiff, seeing himself thus beset, 
signed a treaty of peace at Tolentino in February, 
1797) by which he renounced his claim to Avignon 
and Venaissin — occupied by the French since the end 
of 1 79 1 — and to the legations of Ferrara, Bologna 
and Romagna — which had been taken in 1796 — and 
at the same time paid a heavy indemnity and sur- 
rendered many valuable works of art to the victor. 

Scarcely had peace been concluded with the Pope, 
than Bonaparte had to return once more to Upper 
Italy, to confront another Austrian army under the 
Archduke Karl, a brother of the Emperor, Francis 
II. They met at Tagliamento, where the Austrians 
were again repulsed and pursued by the French who 
gained a fresh victory at the hill of Tarvisio and 
advanced as far as Leoben, twenty-five leagues from 
Vienna. Not till then did Austria condescend to 
treat and it was at Leoben, the i8th of April, 1797, 
that the preliminaries of peace were signed. 



At this juncture, false rumours were circulated in 
the province of Venetia that the French army had 
been defeated ; in several places, the peasantry. 



42 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

invariably opposed to the new order of things, were 
encouraged by the priests and noblesse to arm them- 
selves against the French ; several of such bands 
entered the city of Verona and, assisted by the popu- 
lace, massacred all the French they found there. This 
insurrection, known as the Pasqiie l^eronesi, was soon 
quenched in blood, but Bonaparte saw in it a good 
pretext against the Venetian Republic and, by 
threatening the latter with attack, succeeded in 
changing the form of government. On the 12th of 
May, 1797, the Great Council of Venice, yielding to 
the pressure brought to bear upon it, renounced its 
authority and thus, without offering any dignified 
resistance, fell the oligarchy which, through long cen- 
turies, had ruled the glorious Republic of St. Mark. 
In its place, a democratic government was set up and 
the entry of the French into the city was secured. 
Before long the new-comers had rifled Venice of its 
wealth and works of art, treating it in every respect as 
the spoil of the conquered. For example, they carried 
off to Paris the four horses from the facade of St. 
Mark's, which had been taken by the Venetians at 
Constantinople in 1204. 

In Genoa, likewise, the ancient aristocratic rule 
was abolished by Bonaparte's orders and a ' Ligurian 
Republic,' on the French model, ^\■as inaugurated in 
its stead. 

Lombardy, which had been wrested from Austria, 
was then amalgamated with the Cispadane State, thus 
forming the so-called Cisalpine Republic, constituted 
on the lines of its French exemplar, with a directory 
and two councils. To celebrate the inauguration of 



TREATY OF CAMPO FORM 10 43 

this new s\'stem of government, the 9th of July was 
observed as a solemn festival in Milan which thence- 
forth became the chief centre of Italian life. 

In the October of the same year (1797), a treaty of 
peace was signed at Campo Formio, with Austria 
who thereby ceded Belgium, as well as all her territory 
on the right bank of the Rhine, to France and 
recognised the Cisalpine Republic which was com- 
posed, for the most part, of what were formerly Aus- 
trian possessions, but in return received the territory 
of Venetia. Thus the French virtually abandoned 
Venice which was occupied by the imperial troops 
on the 8th of January, 1798. In such a humiliating 
fashion did the Venetian Republic perish — its fall un- 
redeemed by a single act of heroism which could 
have caused its loss to be respected or regretted.^ 

The cession of Venice to Austria gave the lie to 
those glorious promises of liberty and independence 
which had been held out by the French invaders, and 
the depredations and robberies of which they were 
guilty in the Cisalpine and Ligurian Republics — 
treated almost as their vassals — was a bitter grievance 
to many Italians. Notwithstanding, the two years, 
1796-97, marked the epoch of a great re-awakening 
in the life of the peninsula. 

* 

After the peace of Campo Formio, Bonaparte 
returned to France in order to organise his Egyptian 

' Ugo Foscolo, then little more than twenty years of age, forcibly 
expresses in the Ultime Letiere Di Jacopo Ortis the bitter grief felt by 
Italian patriots at this bartering of \'enice to Austria. 



44 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH RETOLUTION 

campaign. In the meantime, the revolutionary party 
— although in a minority in the various Italian states 
— being assured of the support and favour of the 
French troops already retained in the peninsula, com- 
menced a bold agitation which promoted fierce con- 
tentions. A riot broke out in Rome, during which the 
French embassy was attacked. The Directory made 
it a pretext for despatching thither an army which 
entered Rome, without opposition, on the iSth of 
February, 1798. The fall of the Pope's temporal 
power and the Roman Republic were proclaimed at 
the same time.' 

Shortly afterwards, King Ferdinand of Naples, 
inspired by the great victory gained by the English 
admiral, Nelson, over the French fleet at the battle of 
the Nile, believed that the hour had come for declar- 
ing war on France and set out for Rome with an 
army, in order to re-establish the temporal supremacy 
of the Pontiff The French, of whom there were only 
a few in Rome, retired, and the Neapolitans took 
possession of the city on the 27th of November, 1798. 
But a few days afterwards, the French general, 
Championnet, having concentrated his forces, 
assumed the offensive and obliged the King of 
Naples, in consequence, to beat a rapid retreat. On 
arriving in his capital, Ferdinand only remained long 
enough to invest General Pignatelli with authority 
and then promptly embarked for Sicily. The French 
now made their way into the country and, with the 

' Pius VI., driven from Rome, took refuge in Tuscany ; having been 
arrested later, by P'rench orders, he was conducted to ^ alence, in France, 
where he died, 29th of August, 1799. 



FRENCH IN ITALY : AUSTKO-RUSSIAN VICTORIES 45 

help of some of the middle-class Neapolitans, 
occupied the capital itself, in spite of the vigorous 
resistance maintained by the lower orders (January 22, 
1799)- It was then that the Parthenopsean Republic 
— so-called from the ancient name of the city — was 
proclaimed at Naples. 

The Piedmontese king also, Charles Emmanuel 
IV. — who had succeeded his father Victor Amadeus 
III. in 1796 — had seen the French, under one pretext 
or another, install themselves in Piedmont and had 
been forced to withdraw to Sardinia. 

On hearing that xA.ustria, allied with England and 

Russia, purposed entering Italy anew, the French 

drove the Hapsburgh-Lorraine dynasty out of 

Tuscany and took possession of the latter province. 

Thus, in March, 1799, the whole of the Italian 

peninsula, with the exception of the duchy of Parma 

and Piacenza — still ruled by its own duke — and Venice 

now held by Austria — was in their power. 

* 
* * 

But just then the Austro-Russian army, com- 
manded by Suvaroff, appeared on Italian soil and 
gained notable victories in Upper Italy over the 
French. The latter had to recall their troops 
scattered in the rest of the peninsula, but these were 
also discomfited and compelled to retreat into 
Liguria. It was easy enough to overthrow the 
republican governments established by the French, 
considering their unstable bases in the Italian pro- 
vinces, and many of the citizens, who had compromised 
themselves by supporting the new ideas, were forced 
to emigrate. 



46 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Meantime the members of the revolutionary party 
in Naples tried to defend themselves against the 
Bourbon troops, commanded by Cardinal Rufifo, but 
had to capitulate on the 20th of June, 1799. They 
had been promised a full amnesty, but the King and 
Queen had no intention of respecting the terms of 
this capitulation and wreaked cruel vengeance on 
the heads of the republican movement, who sub- 
mitted most heroically to their fate ; among the illus- 
trious men who were sent to the scaffold by the 
Bourbon government, were the physician, Domenico 
Cirillo, the eminent lawyers Mario Pagano and Fran- 
cesco Conforti, and Admiral Francesco Caracciolo. 

Horatio Nelson likewise played a part in these 
events at Naples. ^ The English admiral arrived in 
the harbour with a fleet, when the armistice had 
already been concluded ; he knew that King Ferdi- 
nand and Queen Caroline did not intend that any 
concessions should be granted to the rebels, therefore, 
when he saw the white flag floating from the fortress, 
he signalled his protest, then made known to Ruffo 
the King's intention. But the Cardinal declared that 
the capitulation ought to be respected. In such a 
case, indeed, the judgment given naturally depended 
on the royal decision, but at that time, the King 
was in Sicily. Nelson, with scanty diplomatic fore- 
sight, at the instigation, perhaps, of the English 
ambassador, Hamilton, tried to delay the carrying 
out of the capitulation, as far as its terms were 

' Nelson's conduct at this juncture has given ground for very severe 
censure. Professor Villari, in an article recently pul)lished in the 
NuoTii Aiitologia of the 1 6th of February, 1899, there sums up the 
results of investigations on the subject. 



48 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

favourable to the rebels and, when strict orders 
came from Palermo to annul such terms, he caused 
the republican chiefs to be imprisoned. It can be 
asserted, in fact, that on this occasion, he forgot 
he was a representative of England and instead 
of exercising that moderation worthy of his great 
nation, he made himself the instrument of Bourbon 
vengeance. The reason for his conduct is to be found 
in his blind infatuation for Lady Hamilton who had 
become the tool of the cruel Queen Caroline. 

Everywhere re-action was triumphing. The old 
order of things was restored : armed bands of 
peasants scoured the country and perpetrated terrible 
acts of savagery against the revolutionists, many of 
whom repaired to France, in the hope of a successful 
revenge. 

It was amongst these exiles from all parts of the 
peninsula, that the idea of Italian nationality worked 
most potently, and the Piedmontese, Carlo Botta — to 
whom, later, belonged the credit of largely diffusing 
it by his histories — was the first to sign a petition to 
the Council of Five Hundred inviting France to unify 
Italy. "Rome" — thus ended the document — "was 
never so illustrious as when she disposed of territories 
where the African encamped : France can ne^'er be 
greater than in declaring Italy to be free and 
independent when she is held captive by foreign 
troops." This petition was signed by emigrants from 
Piedmont, Lombardy, Venetia, Emilia, Romagna and 
Naples, demonstrating thereby that a common exile 
only served to merge their aspirations in one grand 
ideal : that of a free Italy ! 




THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 



The beginning of the year 1800 saw the Austrians 
virtual masters of Italy : the French army, after 
having prolonged the campaign to the utmost of its 
power, was driven into Liguria and compelled to 
retire to Genoa which had just been blockaded by 
sea, by the English admiral, Keith. 

Napoleon Bonaparte — who by the coup d'etat of 
the 1 8th Bruniaire had made himself master 
of affairs in France by assuming the title of First 
Consul — already meditated the re-conquest of Italy, 
and whilst he ordered General Massena, commanding 
the French force shut up in Genoa, to maintain a 
stout resistance, he conceived the bold design of 
leading another army across the Alps. To this end 
in May, 1800, he secretly concentrated troops in the 
neighbourhood of Geneva ; then he proceeded to 
direct their operations in person and led his men 
to the pass of the great St. Bernard. The infantry 
found the march easy enough, but it was another 
matter for the cavalry ; each man had to dis- 
mount and lead his horse — in spite of ^\'hich pre- 

5 49 



50 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 

caution some of the soldiers and their beasts fell over 
precipices by the way. The artillery pieces had to be 
dismounted, transported on hand barrows or on mules ; 
the heaviest cannons were placed in trunks of trees, 
hollowed out for the purpose, and dragged along 
by ropes. When, after this wearisome climb, the 
French arrived at the hospice, at the summit of the 
pass, its inmates, the monks of St. Bernard, whom 
Bonaparte had previously furnished with money to 
provide victuals, distributed bread, cheese and wine 
to each soldier ; afterwards each company began 
the descent which, although apparently less toilsome 
than the ascent, was really fraught with yet greater 
dangers. 

Having surmounted all obstacles. Napoleon's forces 
at length reached the valley of Aosta where, advancing 
into the plain, they menaced the rear of the Austrian 
army. The latter which had just succeeded in 
occupying Genoa — only surrendered by Massena 
under pressure of starvation, after a most valiant 
resistance — had to beat a hasty retreat to Lombardy, 
to prevent communication being cut off with Austria. 

A sanguinary battle took place on the 14th of June 
1800, at Marengo near Alessandria, wherein the 
French would have been overpowered, had not 
General Desaix, who had been sent by Bonaparte 
in command of a wing of the army to recon- 
noitre in the direction of Novi, judged it expedient 
on hearing the roar of cannon, to turn back to his 
chiefs assistance. Desaix is reported to have said : 
" The battle is lost, but it is only just three o'clock, 
there is still time to win another." Napoleon initiated 



NAPOLEON RE-ESTABLISHES REPUBLICS 5 I 

the attack : Desaix was killed, but the day ended 
with a decisive victory for the French. 

The Austrians were now obliged to abandon all 
their conquests and to confirm the agreement made 
at Campo Formio. Napoleon re-established the 
Cisalpine and Ligurian republics, and France took 
possession of Piedmont. Other important changes 
took place : Parma and Piacenza were soon after 
ceded to France, and the Bourbon family to whom 
that duchy belonged, obtained instead Tuscany 
which was wrested from the house of Lorraine and 
constituted into a ' Kingdom of Etruria.' 

At the end of 1801, Napoleon convoked four 
hundred and fifty-two notables of the Cisalpine 
Republic at Lyons, with the intention of framing the 
new constitution which in essence resembled the one 
then possessed by France. The legislative power 
was divided into four assemblies and vested in a 
consulate, tribunate, senate and legislative body 
{Consulta, Censura, Consiglio and Corpo Legislativd) 
whilst the executive power was placed in the hands 
of a president, elected for ten years, who possessed 
the rights of initiating legislation and of nominating 
functionaries. The polity so formed was henceforth 
to be known as the ' Italian Republic' Napoleon 
Bonaparte was elected as president and he, in his 
turn, constituted Count Francesco Melzi vice-presi- 
dent. The evils of the military occupation of the 
preceding years having been diminished, this new 
Republic, protected by the great principles of libert)- 
and civil equality, was enabled to enjoy genuine 
prosperity : not only had the very name of ' Italian ' 



52 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 

a fascination for those it governed, but the absence 
of the president made its independence appear all 
the more real, whilst Melzi, by his sagacious rule, was 
well qualified to win the sympathies of the people. 



When the First Consul assumed in 1804 the title of 
Emperor of the French, it seemed incongruous that 
he should continue to be president of a republic ; 
consequently, the crown of the kingdom of Italy was 
offered him — a crown which he placed on his own 
head at Milan, the 26th of May, 1805, with the famous 
words : " God gave it me — woe to him who touches 
it ! " He nominated as viceroy, his step-son, Eugene 
Beauharnais, then only four-and-twenty years of age, 
but a young man of amiable and gentle disposition. 
The latter was anxious to show his gratitude towards 
the Emperor by a ready obedience ; thus it was that 
in deference to his chief's orders, he discontinued the 
convocation of the legislative body at the first opposi- 
tion he encountered therefrom on the question of some 
proposed laws. The kingdom of Italy thus fell at 
last under the yoke of this so-called enlightened 
despotism. 

Moreover, whilst Napoleon was at Milan, the 
magistrates of the Ligurian Republic had suggested 
an amalgamation of their government with the 
French Empire ; the Emperor therefore betook him- 
self to Genoa and formed this ancient state into 
three French departments. 

In the same }'ear, at Presburg, on the 26th of 
December, 1805, after the great victory of Austerlitz, 



FRENCH OCCUPY NAPLES AND THE PAPAL STATES 53 

Napoleon imposed a peace treaty on Austria and 
compelled the latter to forego her claim to Venice 
which thus became united to the kingdom of Italy, 
to the great joy of the Italians who flattered them- 
selves that this step forwarded the unification of the 
entire peninsula. 

Whilst this campaign had been in progress, the 
Neapolitan Court had joined in the coalition 
formed by England, Austria and Russia against 
France. Napoleon made this a pretext for sending 
an army to conquer Naples, called upon his soldiers 
to make an end of a regime which had " neither faith, 
honour nor good sense," and thenceforth proudly 
announced that the Neapolitan dynasty was " at an 
end." It was indeed an easily assured victory: the 
Bourbon family at once took refuge in Sicily, and 
Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon, was pro- 
claimed King of Naples on the 30th of March, 1806. 

The year after. Napoleon inflicted another blow 
on the Bourbons by taking Tuscany from them and 
uniting it to the French empire. 

The Emperor now caused his troops to occupy the 
sea-coast of the Papal States, and when the Pontiff 
protested and so made common cause with the 
enemies of France, Napoleon declared the temporal 
power of the Pope to be at an end (1809), united 
Rome and its adjoining territory to the French empire 
and amalgamated the Marches with the kingdom of 
Italy.i In his despatch to the French Senate, con- 
cerning necessary legislation after the above- 

' Pius VII., having Ijeen made prisoner, was conducted to Savonaand 
ultimately to Fontainehleau. 



54 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 

mentioned annexation, the Emperor wrote as follows : 
" The decree that we submit to you will accomplish 
one of the most important political events of the great 
times in which we live. May the words : ' policy of 
the Roman court ' be for ever abolished in European 
diplomacy ; may the narrow egoism of a prince who 
possesses a country without army, ports without 
ships, power without any means of enforcing it and 
neutrality without guarantee, disappear in the general 
prosperity of the Italian peninsula !" 



At this epoch, the whole of the Italian peninsula 
depended, either directly or indirectly, on Napoleon. 
Piedmont, Liguria, Parma, Piacenza, Tuscany and 
Rome — that is to say, nearly a third of the country — 
had been annexed to the French empire. Although 
Piedmont, and also Liguria, by their proximity to, 
and affinity with France, had easily adapted them- 
selves to French laws and institutions, it was far 
otherwise with those provinces which, unaccustomed 
to warlike exercises, only submitted with great dis- 
content to the military conscription imposed on them 
by the conqueror. 

Everywhere, however, was visible a great intellectual, 
social and material transformation. This was most 
of all evident in the so-called ' kingdom of Italy,' 
which comprised Lombardy, Venetia, Reggio, Modena, 
Romagna and the Marches, with a population of 
nearly seven million inhabitants. New roads were 
opened up, large canals constructed, splendid monu- 
ments erected, agriculture encouraged, and industry 




ARCO DELLA PACE, MILAN. 
(Begun in 1804.) 



56 THE NAPOLEOXIC REGIME 

and commerce were developed, while art and learning 
were promoted in a thousand ways, and an excellent 
army was organised which won a new respect for 
the Italian name. "Of all the periods of servitude," 
writes the illustrious contemporary historian, Cesare 
Balbo, " not one was as happy, as active, perhaps as 
useful, none were nearly so great and glorious as this 
epoch. Less shame was there in serving, with half 
Europe, a man so powerful and illustrious — an Italian, 
moreover, by birth and race — in serving him, too, by 
actively furthering his mighty and incessantly in- 
creasing projects whose unforeseen results it might 
justly be hoped would tend to some great scheme 
of national reunion or liberation — less shame, I main- 
tain, was there in such service, than in the languid 
and isolated slavery that had formerly been Italy's 
in the midst of independence, liberty and universal 
activity. . . . There was not actual independence, 
it is true, but there were at least the forms of it 
in a great Italian centre ; there was not a well- 
guaranteed constitutional liberty, though a legal 
one existed, but there was that equality which 
indemnified so many, rightly or wrongly, for the 
absence of freedom. Certain it is, that from this 
time, the name of Italy was pronounced with in- 
creased love and honour." 

French influence in the kingdom of Naples was 
minimised by the actual conditions of the country 
which differed so greatly from that of P'rance : this 
may be accounted for, too, by the fact that the new 
regime was of shorter duration there and had, besides, 
to give its attention to defending itself not only against 



JOACHIM MURAT IN NAPLES 5/ 

the attempts which the Bourbons — still refugees in 
Sicily and backed up by England — made to recover 
their lost states, but also against the bands of brigands 
which infested Calabria. Joseph Bonaparte had no 
sooner begun to find his level in the new kingdom, 
than Napoleon, who transferred kings from one throne 
to another as if they had been so many einploycs, 
promoted him to the crown of Spain, sending his 
own brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, to Naples in 
Joseph's stead (1808). The new ruler succeeded in 
winning much popularity through his personal 
qualities, but he was more of a soldier than an 
administrator. At any rate, if he could not change 
the condition of the country, he introduced therein 
elements of a new life. 

* 

The Bourbon court had been strengthened in Sicily 
by the support of England, who had made of that 
island a centre for her warlike operations against 
the French. Notwithstanding, Queen Caroline re- 
sented English protection ; she was, moreover, not 
popular with the Sicilians, either on account of the 
favour she showed to the Neapolitan emigrants or 
through the heavy expenses that the Court had incurred 
in carrying on the w^ar. This opposition made itself 
felt in parliament and even the barons themselves 
refused to grant the required subsidies. The Court 
retaliated by ignoring the parliament, promulgating 
arbitrary decrees of taxation and causing five of 
the most recalcitrant nobles of the opposition to 
be arrested. But the English ambassador. Lord 



58 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 

William Bentinck, seeing that such a procedure 
would place the island at the mercy of the French 
invaders, brought pressure to bear upon the Bourbon 
government, which resulted in the immediate libera- 
tion of the five barons ; nay, he declared to the Queen 
that a constitution must be granted, uttering the 
famous formula : " Madame, constitution ou revolution." 
The Palermo court, thus coerced by English pressure, 
took refuge in a compromise ; King Ferdinand, 
under the pretext of illness, made over the conduct 
of affairs to his son, Francis, conferring upon him the 
title of Vicar-General of the kingdom, January i6, 
1812, and withdrew to his country retreat at Ficuzza. 
The newly-ordained Prince-Vicar forthwith con- 
voked parliament which immediately decreed a 
constitution — drawn up on the English model, with 
an Upper and a Lower House — and abolished feudal 
rights. Queen Caroline who was always setting on 
foot fresh machinations to oppose these new political 
tendencies and to shake off English interference, was 
obliged to leave Sicily in 18 13 and return to Vienna 
where she died in September, 18 14. 



In the meantime, the fortunes of Napoleon were 
rapidly on the wane and he now saw himself for- 
saken by all his supporters. He had always exacted 
blind obedience, and this pronounced absolutism 
had alienated the devotion of his subjects. Many 
Italians, who were fully alive to the regenerating in- 
fluences infused by the new regime into all branches 
of their social life, felt, none the less bitterly, the 



AUSTRIA MENACES ITALY 59 

galling" yoke of the oppressor, and showed it even 
in their literary taste, by applauding the burning 
and indignant verses of Ugo Foscolo rather than 
the adulatory effusions of Vincenzo Monti. The 
disastrous Russian campaign had provoked a genuine 
reaction of hatred against the man who, to glut his 
own ambition, had sacrificed the lives of so many 
thousands of his soldiers. The Powers in league 
against the French Emperor helped to foment 
this feeling and, by giving a vague encouragement 
to the aspirations of Italian independence, easily 
succeeded in winning over to their side a great 
part of the population. 

Austria now offered active menace to the kingdom 
of Italy ; the Viceroy, Eugene, tried to defend himself, 
but was compelled to fall back upon the banks of the 
Adige. At the same time, Joachim Murat, who, to 
keep his throne intact, had engaged in secret treaties 
with Austria, advanced with an army from Naples 
in the direction of Upper Italy, without Eugene 
knowing whether he came as a friend or an enemy : 
the Viceroy himself was then compelled to retreat to 
the Mincio. 

Meanwhile, the English occupied Leghorn, after- 
wards Genoa. Then it was that Italy received the 
news of the capitulation of Paris to the allied troops 
and of the abdication of Napoleon. Eugene, how- 
ever, hoped to be able to keep Lombardy for himself 
and, to this end, suspended hostilities with a view to 
appeasing the Powers. But the greater part of the 
Milanese population, weary of French rule, were 
unfriendly to his design ; some hoped to institute 



6o THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 

a national government, others desired the return of 
the Austrians ; therefore, when the senate of the 
kingdom, assembled at Milan, wished to send a 
deputation to the Powers to demonstrate their 
willingness to favour Eugene, an insurrection broke 
out in the city and Count Prina, minister of finance, 
was murdered by the mob, April 20, 18 14. The 
Viceroy, out of pique, surrendered the fortress of 
Mantua to the Austrians and sought the protection 
of his father-in-law in Bavaria. A few days after- 
wards, the Austrians entered Milan, and thus fell that 
kingdom of Italy which had boasted of so many 
illustrious citizens in art, science and public life, and 
had formed the great centre of Italian life in that 
momentous period of history. 

The former governments were now reinstated : 
Pius VII. who had already been liberated for some 
time past, re-entered Rome ; the Grand Duke, Ferdi- 
nand III., took possession again of Tuscany; the 
duchies of Parma and Modena were re-established, 
whilst Victor Emmanuel I. of Savoy — who, in 1802, 
had succeeded his brother, Charles Emmanuel IV., in 
Sardinia — returned to Turin. Joachim Murat alone 
still preserved his kingdom of Naples. 



Napoleon had chosen as a place of exile the island 
of Elba, but it was generally felt to be impossible 
that a man, who had led so many enterprises and 
won so many battles, should willingly condemn 
himself to inertia. There were even Italians who 
dreamed of making it worth his while to reconstitute 



THE 'HUNDRED DAYS': COXGRESS OF VIENNA 6 1 

their country's unity and on May 19, 18 14, a message 
was sent to the exile from Turin, imploring the help 
of his name and sword and offering him, in exchange, 
the crown of Italy. Napoleon received the invitation 
graciously, but Paris, rather than Rome, was the goal 
at which he aimed. On the 26th of February, 181 5, 
he left the island of Elba with a thousand soldiers 
and sailed for France, with the intention of re- 
conquering the Empire. He disembarked in the 
Gulf of Jouan on the ist of March and in twenty 
days, supported by the army — always enthusi- 
astically devoted to its chief — repossessed himself 
of the throne and entered Paris amid the rejoic- 
ings of the people, to enjoy a brilliant but short- 
lived triumph of a hundred days. 

The sovereigns of Europe, assembled in the spring 
of that year at the Congress of Vienna, now decided 
to put an end for good and all to the power of 
Napoleon ; they accordingly proclaimed him " the 
enemy and disturber of the peace of the world," 
declared him to be " without the pale of civil and 
social relations," and at the same time, sent orders 
to their armies to march against France. On the 
1 8th of June, 1815, on the plains of Waterloo, was 
fought the memorable battle which crowns the end 
of this epoch, so full of wars and discords ; on that 
day, the heroes of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena and 
Wagram were completely routed by the English 
veterans of Wellington and the Prussian grenadiers 
of Blucher. The allied armies were thus enabled 
to march on Paris and establish Louis XVIII. on 
the French throne. Napoleon, having lost all hope. 



62 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 

surrendered to the English, by whom he was banished 
to the island of St. Helena. 

The very day that the uncrowned Emperor arrived 
in sight of the rock where he was to drag out his 
last years, his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, after 
strange vicissitudes, was shot in Calabria. In 1814, 
by his treason towards Napoleon, the king of Naples 
had obtained permission from Austria to keep his 
states, but he soon had reason to doubt that such 
a concession would be long allowed and therefore 
had been reconciled to his brother-in-law, then in the 
island of Elba. When the Emperor embarked for 
France, Murat turned his arms against Austria, 
inviting the Italians to wage a war of independence. 
Very few, however, rallied to his standard ; he 
advanced as far as Emilia, but hearing the Neapolitan 
coast was threatened by the English, beat a retreat. 
Routed by the Austrians near Macerata, he re-entered 
his own territories where the Bourbon party was 
again lifting its head. Desertions became daily more 
numerous in his army : at last he abdicated the 
throne on May 20, 181 5, and the government of 
Ferdinand Bourbon was restored in the kingdom of 
Naples. Joachim Murat now repaired to France, 
though he dared not face Napoleon. After Waterloo, 
he thought of retiring to Corsica, the native country 
of so many of his followers. He meditated the re- 
conquest of Naples from that island, and on the 28th 
of September, weighed anchor, with two hundred 
and fifty adherents, at Ajaccio, but a storm dispersed 
his little fleet. The vessel in which Joachim sailed 
arrived at Pizzo in Calabria, where he attempted, but 




JOACHIM MURAT. 

(From the crayon drawing by Frangois Gerard in the Museum at 
Chnlon-sur-Saone.) 



64 



THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME 



vainly, to excite a reaction in his own favour. Having 
been made prisoner a few days afterwards, in pur- 
suance of orders sent from Naples, he was judged 
by a court-martial, condemned to death, and shot on 
the 13th of October, 181 5, at the age of forty-eight. 




IV 



THE RESTORATION: OLD GOVERNMENTS AND NEW 
PEOPLES 



It was in the midst of the brilHant fetes and 
splendours of the Congress of Vienna — in which the 
prime minister of Austria, Prince Metternich, then 
in the zenith of his career, had shone pre-eminent 
among his peers — that the re-adjustment of Italy was 
effected. The diplomatists in question had declared 
that such a re-adjustment ought to be based on the 
legitimist principle, that is to say that the former 
governments which the revolution had overthrown, 
ought to be restored. Such a maxim was applied to 
all Italy with the exception of the republics ; conse- 
quently, Venice, Genoa and Lucca had no place in 
the new states. Venetia with Lombardy reverted to 
Austria, Genoa was annexed to the dominions of 
Savoy, whilst Lucca was assigned to the Bourbon 
dynasty of Parma, so long as this dukedom should 
be governed by Marie Louise — daughter of the 
Emperor Francis of Austria, and wife of Napoleon I. 
■ — who was to keep it during her lifetime. For the 
rest, the political conditions of 1789 were restored, 

6 65 



66 THE RESTORATION 

although by this arrangement the influence of Austria 
was augmented and she entered into possession of 
the richest, best fortified and — strategically — most 
valuable provinces in Italy ; hence she could easil}^ 
make her superior power felt throughout the penin- 
sula, especially as members of the Austrian royal 
family reigned in Parma, Modena and Tuscany. 
Austrian influence, therefore, was substituted for 
French, and all its efforts were promptly devoted 
to cancelling every trace of revolution. 



For the better understanding of Italian life from 
1815 to 1820, let us attentively consider each state 
individually, beginning with Piedmont. On the 
20th of May, 1 8 14, Turin, the ancient Piedmontese 
capital, after sixteen years of the French regime, 
welcomed back its Savoy rulers with true and un- 
affected enthusiasm. Massimo D'Azeglio, who was 
then sixteen years old and a member of the civil 
guard that was drawn up for the royal reception, 
describes his impressions in his Ricordi : " I found 
myself on parade in the Piazza Costello and very 
well recollect the group presented by the King and 
his staff. Dressed in the old-fashioned style, with 
powder, queue and Frederic II. hats, they must have 
looked quaint figures enough, but to me, as to all 
there, they appeared most magnificent and coinnic 
il faut. The oft-repeated cries of welcome that 
acclaimed this good prince must have assured him, 
beyond all possibility of doubt, of the affection and 
sympathy of his faithful Turinese." Thus did Pied- 



VICTOR EMMAXUEL I. RETURNS TO PIEDMONT 6/ 

mont joyously hail the end of the foreign yoke and 
receive King Victor Emmanuel I., the representative 
of that house which had always so carefully guarded 
the country's honour. 

But discontent followed hard on such joy. The 
King and his courtiers imagined that, during the last 
twenty years, the good Piedmontese had, like them- 
selves, been asleep, figuratively speaking, whilst in 
reality this space of time had meant for the people 
a century of progress, Victor Emmanuel said he 
regarded all that had happened in his absence as 
a "long dream," and thought he gave an ample 
proof of his generosity by drawing, as he said, a 
veil over the past. On his return to Piedmont, an 
old courtier had handed him the Pahnaverde alma- 
nack for 1798, which contained the list of state 
employes. In the royal mania for returning to the 
old order, these officials were all replaced in their 
posts, without any one troubling to find out whether 
some of them might not have died in the interval. 
The same system was likewise applied to the army 
and involved the recall of many men who had not 
held commissions for years. Those who had served 
under Napoleon, if they wished to be re-admitted, 
had to lose one grade, whilst quite raw youths of 
aristocratic families were promoted to fill up the 
void thus created amongst the officers. D'Azeglio, 
thus raised to the rank of lieutenant, wrote in 
after times : " Ours was a curious method of form- 
ing a regiment ! Those in command who had re- 
ceived their commissions in bygone years, had 
forgotten everything ; we junior officers had, as yet, 



68 THE RESTORATION 

learnt nothing, whilst our subordinates, the scouts 
and underlings —soldiers who had been trained in 
the first military school of the world and had their 
duties at their fingers' ends — laughed at us in 
their sleeves in our presence and openly in our 
absence." 

Thus the Piedmontese government, very far from 
making concessions to progress, aimed at a slavish 
reconstruction of the past that was to affect both men 
and things. At one stroke, Piedmont was transplanted 
back into the middle of the eighteenth century and 
all the privileges of the nobility and clergy were 
restored. This return to the ancient regime dis- 
pleased many people, more especially the educated 
classes of the country, who, unable to avail them- 
selves of any official remedy, leagued themselves 
together in secret societies. 



Factions were also multiplying in the Lombardo- 
Venetian provinces where the disappearance of the 
kingdom of Italy had not caused the memories of 
that glorious epoch to be forgotten. Austria had, it 
is true, always increased the material welfare of the 
subject provinces, but this was no longer enough. 
Although before the French revolution, the people of 
Lombardy had gladly approved the government of 
Maria Theresa and Joseph II., they failed to do so 
after the formation of a kingdom of Italy had once 
awakened the idea of nationality in men's minds. 
A serious change had been wrought in the conscience 
of the masses, and Federico Confalonieri could justly 



LIBERAL PROPAGANDA IN MILAN 69 

say : " We can no longer be the people of twenty 
years ago unless we renounce habits and sentiments 
already deeply-rooted in a nation full of energy, 
genius and passions, which has acquired during this 
time wider political experience, deeper patriotism 
and increased military aptitude." In spite of all this, 
the Austrian Emperor had declared to Venetia and 
Lombardy : " You belong to me by right of conquest 
and ought to forget you are Italian" — a foolish 
dictum, which only served the better to remind the 
vanquished that they were Italians and that they 
must prove themselves worthy of the name. An 
opposition to the government, therefore, now began 
to show itself among the most cultured and intelligent 
classes ; secret societies were formed, and to cope with 
them, a terrible police system was organised, which 
ever developed its menacing proportions and ulti- 
mately became the single prop of Austrian dominion 
in Italy. 

Whilst the Vienna cabinet aimed at keeping these 
provinces enslaved by means of an armed surveil- 
lance, some cultivated and hard-working citizens of 
Milan proposed to spread liberal ideas among the 
people and to diffuse a knowledge of the conquests 
of modern thought. To this end — having been un- 
successful in their request for permission to open 
popular schools — they started a paper, // Conciliatore, 
devoted to literary and social as well as to political 
ends. Among its contributors were Confalonieri, G. 
D. Romagnosi, Silvio Pellico, Giovanni Rasori, Filippo 
Ugoni, Giovanni Rerchet and many others whom 
exile and martyrdom were to render illustrious in the 



JO THE RESTORATION 

annals of Italian independence. Austria was not 
slow to suspect the existence of this liberal propa- 
ganda ; in October, 1819, the Conciliatore was sup- 
pressed, and in the October of the following year, 
Pellico, Gioia, Romagnosi, Maroncelli and Arrivabene 
were arrested and a long series of political prosecu- 
tions was set on foot. 



Austria domineered likewise in the duchy of Parma 
and Piacenza. On the fall of Napoleon, Francis of 
Austria, desiring a suitable possession for his daughter, 
Marie Louise, wife of the fallen Emperor, had assigned 
to her Parma and Piacenza. Although the ex- 
empress enjoyed the honours accruing to her position, 
the real ruling power was Austria, represented by 
a garrison at Piacenza. Thus, whilst the Austrian 
marshal, Neipperg, was endeavouring to make Marie 
Louise forget her exiled consort at St. Helena, the 
cabinet of Vienna was dictating laws to the province 
and hindering the development of every liberal and 
Italian tendency. Nor did things alter when the 
Duchess changed her lovers. 

Worse still was the condition of affairs in the 
neighbouring dukedom of Modena and Reggio, which 
had been made over to Francis IV., i\rchduke of 
Austria, son of Marie Beatrice, the last representative 
of the house of P^ste. He was both clever and 
ambitious, but so imbued with despotic notions 
and contempt for his fellow men, that he was quite 
unscrupulous in the means he pursued to gain his 
end ; moreover, he was in league with the Jesuits 



TUSCANY: PAPAL STATES'. NAPLES 7 1 

and was remorseless in his pursuit of the leaders of 
political innovations. 

* * 

A happier state of things prevailed in the pleasant 
province of Tuscany. There, even before the French 
revolution, the house of Lorraine had introduced 
many reforms ; it had abolished the Inquisition, 
torture, the death penalty, and had ameliorated every 
phase of civic life. When the long-hoped-for return 
of the Grand Duke, Ferdinand III., to his duchy, took 
place in 1815, he immediately restored the lenient 
rule of his predecessors ^a rule that seemed fitly to 
correspond with the placid temperament of the inhabi- 
tants of that particular region of Italy. A worthy 
representative of such a government was the prime 
minister, Count Fossombroni, an easy-going man who 
had such confidence in time and chance that he used 
to say : // iiiondo va da se (" The world goes by 
itself"). Under such a regime, the Tuscan people 
grew enfeebled and lethargic, although the tolerant 
sway they enjoyed seemed like genuine liberty, in 
comparison with the absolutism of the other Italian 
states. 

The two worst administrations in Italy were those 
of the States of the Church and the kingdom of 
Naples. In the former, the Pope, on resuming his 
temporal power, had re-established a truly mediaeval 
government wherein the Inquisition and the order 
of the Jesuits were both revived. French legislation 
was abolished and the old obscure and confused laws 



J 2 THE RESTORATION 

were restored in its stead. The complete exclusion 
of the laity from offices in the state was assumed as 
the invariable basis of such a regime as was now 
instituted. Pius VII. and Cardinal Consalvi, his 
minister, were, it is true, full of good intentions, but 
they were irresistibly influenced by the reactionary 
Diilieu in which they lived. 

By the death of Joachim Murat, Ferdinand Bourbon 
had felt his position assured on his re-acquired throne 
of Naples and, like the other princes of the penin- 
sula, he also cherished hopes of rebuilding the fabric 
of the past. Everything favourable to the royal pre- 
rogative in the French code was not only preserved 
at Naples, but was likewise applied to Sicily ; all 
the rest was abolished. The constitution granted to 
Sicily in 1812 was quickly consigned to oblivion; 
the parliament was no longer convoked, and the 
Bourbon monarch assumed the title of ' Ferdinand I., 
King of the Two Sicilies,' abandoning the titles 
of 'Ferdinand IV. of Naples' and 'Ferdinand III. 
of Sicily,' in use up till that time.^ It was no mere 
alteration of name ; this re-union of the two crowns 
into one kingdom signified the destruction of Sicilian 
independence and completely discounted any differ- 
ence of treatment of the countries on either side of 
the Faro. 

By reason of its geographical position, the kingdom 

' To understand this newly adopted title we must revert to tlie revolu- 
tion of ' the Vespers' (1282), which separated Sicily from Naples; in 
spite of this, however, the Angevin rulers of the latter kingdom had 
still wished to incorporate in their title the idea of Sicilian sovereignty. 
When, later (1442), Alfonso of Arragon re-united both kingdoms, the 
term ' Two Sicilies ' came officially into use. 



HOLY ALLIANCE AND LIBERALISM 73 

of the Two Sicilies might have been considered as 
properly independent of the Austrian pretensions 
that were advanced elsewhere in Italy, all the more 
so, since England was secretly seeking to counter- 
balance the power of Austria. Notwithstanding, the 
King of Naples remained the humble servant of the 
Vienna cabinet. 



It was Austria's aim to keep a strict watch over 
Italy, and make the rebel beauty resume her inter- 
rupted slumber. In this work, however, she was not 
alone, but was able to count on the support of Russia 
and Prussia with whom she had organised the so- 
called Holy Alliance. Although this agreement 
between the three sovereign Powers concluded with 
high-sounding words of peace and justice and was 
cloaked under the guise of religion, it was in 
reality a league against the so-hated liberalism. The 
populations who had lived for five and twenty years 
under the influence of French revolutionary ideas 
were necessarily eager for innovations, and it was 
against such aspirations as these that the Holy 
Alliance was directed. 

It was desired that men's minds should lie in the 
same dormant quiescence as they had done before 
the revolution, as if indeed it had been possible to 
stifle human thought. But, in spite of reactionary 
efforts, the old world was bursting its swathing-bands 
and even in its outward life, signs of such a struggle 
were already manifest. All was changed in modes of 
thought, manners and customs ; differences between 



74 



THE RESTORATION 



citizens were disappearing ; the fusion of the classes 
was perceptible even in the fashion of dress. The 
abolition of privileges proclaimed by the Napoleonic 
code and other liberal ideas which had made strides 
during its regime, had been the means of planting the 
germ of revolution in the heart of Italy, and hence- 
forth the seed was to grow and prosper there. 




V 



REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 



The secret society most widely diffused in Italy 
was that of the Carbonari. It had originated in the 
Neapolitan States in the first years of the century 
and had struck root there during the French 
dominion to such an extent, that it had even intimi- 
dated Joachim Murat himself On the return of the 
Bourbons, Carbonarism spread throughout the whole 
kingdom — and indeed beyond it — uniting all the 
disaffected in a common grievance. Malcontents 
were very numerous in the army which resented the 
neglect of the Bourbon government : consequently 
the Carbonari found many adherents in its ranks. 
And further to inflame men's minds, there now came 
the news of revolution triumphant in Spain, a 
country which was associated with Naples by many 
memories and affinities. Then it was that the 
instigators of the Italian movement decided to act. 

On the 2nd of July, 1820, two sub-lieutenants, 
Morelli and Silvati, with one hundred and twenty- 
seven men, including sergeants and mounted soldiers, 
proceeded from the Nola quarter, flaunting the 



^6 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 

black, red and blue tricoloured banner of the 
Carbonari to the cry of, " For God, King, and Con- 
stitution." From Nola, the insurgents, accompanied 
by the priest, Menichini, as well as other members of 
the league, made their way to Avellino where the 
governor, after some hesitation, joined their ranks ; 
thence they moved towards the capital, whilst several 
provinces declared themselves in favour of the insur- 
rectionary movement. Meanwhile, deliberation was 
the only resource of the terrified and vacillating 
ministers and this very irresolution furnished the 
constitutionalists with their opportunity. On the 
night of the 5-6th of July, General Guglielmo Pepe, 
dreading arrest on account of his liberal opinions, 
left Naples and placed himself at the head of the 
insurgents. 

King Ferdinand then found himself compelled to 
promise a constitution but, under pretence of illness, 
entrusted his son, Francis — with the title of Vicar — 
with the management of affairs. The farce played 
out in Sicily in 1812 was then re-enacted, but the 
Neapolitan population who distrusted the word of a 
Bourbon, insisted on the constitution being then and 
there conceded, and since the Spanish one was already 
drawn up — to which King Ferdinand, as Infante of 
Spain, had been obliged to take a solemn oath of 
allegiance — they exacted its adoption and demanded 
that not only the Vicar, but that the King himself, 
should swear to it. Thus it was that the aged Ferdi- 
nand was seen with his hand on the Gospels, invoking 
the wrath of heaven should he ever be tempted to 
break his oath. 




GABRIELE ROSSETTI. 



78 REVOLUTIONARY BRGIXNINGS 

It was at this time that the poet, Gabriele Rossetti 
(born at Vasto in the Abruzzi in 1783, died in 
London, 1854), hailed the dawn of NeapoHtan 
hberty in a hymn which became very popular : — 

Sei pur bella cogli astri sul crine 

Che scintillan quai vivi zaffiri, 

E pur dolce quel fiato che spiri 

Porporina foriera del di. 
Col sorriso del pago desio 

Tu ci annunzi dal balzo vicino 

Che d'ltalia nell' almo giardino 

II servaggio per sempre fini." 

(Thou art fair with the stars that are wreathing 

With sapphire-like brightness thy hair, 
And fragrantly sweet is thy breathing, 

Of day thou'rt the harbinger fair I 
And thou from thy rock smilst victorious, 

As the message to men thou dost send : 
In the garden of Italy glorious 

Is servitude aye at an end ! ') 

Patriotism and intellectual activit}' alike awoke, 
and for some time it seemed as if Naples had been 
aroused from her long lethargy. All too soon, 
however, she encountered a serious misfortune in the 
separatist movement which had been set on foot in 
Sicih'. Up till 181 5, this island had enjoyed political 
privileges of its own and the ancient constitu- 
tion which it had succeeded in keeping intact 
through so many reverses of administration, had 
been e\-en more fully developed in 181 2, through an 
agitation promoted by English influence. ^ But when 

' See Chap. III. 



/xs['/^/^/■cT/ox jy sicily 79 

the Bourbon court — compelled to retire to Sicily 
during the Napoleonic period — re-occupied Naples, it 
soon consigned the Sicilian constitution to oblivion. 
The island became a Neapolitan province and was 
duly exploited by Neapolitan officials, thus foiling the 
aspiration which had taken root in the Sicilian mind of 
re-possessing its ancient constitution and of separating 
t'rom Naples. It was for this that, on receiving 
the news of the revolution on the mainland, the men 
of Palermo were fired to supplement the cry of 
" Long live the Constitution !" by that of" Indepen- 
dence for ever ! " The Bourbon troops were expelled 
from the city and the example set by Palermo was 
soon followed by the province of Girgenti. The 
other five provinces of the island, however, remained 
loyal to the Neapolitan government. General 
Florestano Pepe was despatched to suppress the 
insurrection, but as he was inclined to grant too easy 
terms, General Pietro Colletta — afterwards to become 
famous for his Storia Del Reame Di Napoli — was 
sent to supplant him and succeeded, by the employ- 
ment of more severity, in quelling the insurrection and 
in persuading the inhabitants to nominate deputies 
for the parliament which had already assembled at 
Naples. 

Hardly had the danger from within been averted, 
than a much more serious one threatened the 
Neapolitan kingdom from without ; she learned, to 
her consternation, that the sovereigns of Russia, 
Austria and Prussia, intimidated by the spread 
of constitutional ideas throughout Europe, now 
intended putting down by force her so-far success- 



8o REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 

ful revolution. It is to this external peril that 
Rossetti alludes in his verses : — 

" Cittadini, posiamo sicuri 

Sotto I'ombra dei lauri mietuti, 

Ma coi pugni sui brandi temuti 

Stiamo in guardia del patrio terren . , . 
Che guardate, gelosi stranieri? 

Non uscite dai vostri burroni, 

Che la stirpe dei prischi leoni 

Piu nel sonno languente non e. 
Adorate le vostre catene ; 

Chi v'invidia cotanto tesoro ? 

Ma lasciate tranquilli coloro 

Che disdegnan sentirsele al pie." 

(O friends, let us rest in the shade 

Of the laurels we reaped in the past, 

But still in our hands hold we fast 
The swords that our guards we have made . . . 
Ye strangers, why jealous watch keep? 

Approach not, approach not our place 

And vex not the old lions' race — 
The race that no longer doth sleep. 
But yet hug your chains, if ye will. 

No envy have we of your gain, 

But leave those alone who disdain 
To feel the old fetters gall still.) 

King Ferdinand, on his part, secretly hastened to 
apprise the three monarchs that he desired nothing 
better than the re-establishment of despotism. 
Hence he received from them an in\'itation to attend 
the Congress which was shortly to be held at 
Leybach. But in accordance with a constitutional 
decree, the King could not leave the country without 
the consent of parliament ; he therefore addressed 
a letter to the latter — a colossal proof of his 



AUSTRIANS ADVANCE ON NAPLES 51 

perfidy — averring that he desired to go and defend 
the constitution before the sovereigns of the Holy 
Alliance and promising that if he were unsuccessful 
in justifying his people's cause in their hearing, he 
would return to Naples in time to defend it at the 
head of his army. Parliament granted him the 
necessary permission, and Ferdinand started for the 
Congress, leaving the government in the hands of 
his son, Francis. 

At Leybach, the fate of Naples was decided. The 
Holy Alliance, after protesting that it was its 
prerogative and duty to guard the peace of Europe 
and that the condition of the Two Sicilies threatened 
the safety of existing governments, sent an Austrian 
army to Naples to re-establish order, and King 
Ferdinand wrote to his subjects, bidding them give 
his devoted allies a friendly reception. The Nea- 
politan parliament, though already disillusioned, 
declared that the King's decision, made under 
pressure from the allied rulers, was invalid, and 
accordingly resolved to act on the defensive. The 
Vicar, Francis, persisting in his deceitful role, for 
which indeed his father had given~~him the cue, 
posed as a most zealous supporter of the country's 
defence. 

But there were no means of resisting an invasion. 
General Guglielmo Pepe, at the head of an army, 
which was alike good-for-nothing and undisciplined, 
attacked the Austrians at Rieti, March 7, 1821, but 
was defeated, whilst the disbanding of the best part 
of his troops spread discouragement throughout 
the province. Thus the Austrian forces were 

7 



82 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 

enabled to advance on Naples unopposed and not 
another blow was struck in the latter's defence. 
Many of the liberals fled or sought safety in con- 
cealment. On the 19th of March, twenty-six deputies 
met in the parliamentary chamber and signed an 
energetic protest, drawn up by the lawyer, Giuseppe 
Poerio, one of their most distinguished orators. It 
contained these words : " Chosen by electoral suf- 
frage, we received our orders, in accordance with the 
form duly prescribed by the King. We have 
discharged our functions conformably to our power, to 
the Sovereign's oath and our own. But the presence 
of a foreign army in the kingdom obliges us to 
suspend the exercise of those functions. . . . Whilst 
proclaiming this unfortunate circumstance, we protest 
against the violation of the rights of the people . . . 
and we place the cause of the throne and of 
national independence in the hands of that God who 
directs the destinies of rulers and nations alike." 

This was the last session of the Neapolitan 
parliament. On the 23rd of March, the Austrian 
troops entered Naples and re-established absolutism, 
whilst all opposition was quickly stifled in the 
provinces. Before re-entering his states, King 
Ferdinand went to hang a gold and silver sanctuary 
lamp in the Church of the Annunziata at Florence — 
in bittery mockery of expiation for his perjury. 



Whilst Bourbon false-dealing was destroying con- 
stitutional government in the Neapolitan and Sicilian 
kingdoms, a revolution broke out at the other end 



CHARLES ALBERT AND LIBERALISM 83 

of the peninsula, in Piedmont. Even among the 
latter's level-headed and sober-minded people, 
Carbonarism had always found many adherents, 
especially in the ranks of the army. The Pied- 
montese Carbonari had set themselves the task of 
weaning Victor Emmanuel I. from the reactionary 
notions of his courtiers, by persuading him to 
grant a constitution and urging him to war against 
Austria ; in this they reckoned on the support of a 
prince of the blood-royal, in the person of Charles 
Albert of Carignan who, in view of the fact that 
Victor Emmanuel had no male issue and that his 
brother Charles Felix was childless, was heir-pre- 
sumptive to the throne. 

Charles Albert, educated in Paris, under Napo- 
leonic influences, had returned in 18 14 (at that time 
barely sixteen years old) to Piedmont. Inspired 
with ideas imbibed in the French capital, he 
had disapproved of the kingdom's return to an 
eighteenth-century regime and, being of an open and 
vivacious disposition, had not disguised his opinions. 
Hence he acquired a reputation for liberalism and, 
at the same time, great popularity in Turin ; he was 
even credited with being a member of the Carbonari 
and was certainly the intimate friend of such leaders 
of the revolutionary party among the haute noblesse of 
Piedmont, as the Marquis of San Marzano, Count 
Provana di Collegno, Count Moffa di Lisio and others. 
Highly impressionable by temperament, Charles Albert 
was easily swayed by the ardent enthusiasm of those 
surrounding him ; he also cherished the noble ambi- 
tion of being the destined redeemer of Italy and 



84 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 

perhaps in his relations with the Grr/^^z/c?/'/, let himself 
foster such an idea to an unreasonable extent. 

The Piedmontese conspirators had planned their 
rising to take place at the moment when the Austrian 
army should be distracted by the Neapolitan con- 
stitutionalists; thus victory would have more fully 
favoured the liberals at either end of the penin- 
sula, but they had counted, doubtless, on a stronger 
resistance being offered in Naples. On the iith of 
March, 1821, before the news of the disaster at 
Rieti had reached Piedmont, the garrison of Ales- 
sandria raised the Italian tricolour, at the same time 
declaring for the Spanish constitution and war with 
Austria — an example followed two days later by the 
Turin garrison — all to the cry of " God save the 
King ! " 

However, Victor iMiimanuel I., not wishing to break 
the promise he had given to Austria, of withholding a 
constitution from his subjects, and naturally averse, 
by reason of his kindly and gentle disposition, to 
shed the blood of his subjects in a fratricidal struggle, 
abdicated on the 13th of March, in favour of his 
brother, Charles Felix. The latter being then at 
the court of Modena, nominated Charles Albert as 
regent of the kingdom for the time being. Thus 
promoted, the }'oung prince, urged by his friends 
and encouraged by the progress of the revolution, 
proclaimed the Sjjanish constitution at Turin. 
Before three da)'s had passed, a decree arrived from 
Charles Felix, still at Modena, b)- which he declared 
the proclamation made without his consent to be null 
and void, ordered the re-establishment of an absolute 



PAINFUL POSITION OF THE REGENT 



85 



government and insisted on Charles Albert quitting 
the capital. 

The position in which the young Regent now 
found himself was indeed a painful one : the liberal 
party were desirous of dragging him into flat rebellion 
against Charles Felix, but he regarded the perpe- 




SANTORRE OX SANTAROSA. 

tration of such an act as treason against the chief 
representative of his family. Besides, all hope of suc- 
cess had now vanished ; Austria, victorious in the king- 
dom of Naples, was even then mobilising another 
army on the Ticino against Piedmont, and active 
revolt would have meant the ruin of himself and his 



86 RFl'OLl'TIONARY BEGINXIXGS 

future, as well as of his friends. If Charles Albert 
had been unwise in letting himself be carried away 
by the revolutionary current, he was equally so in his 
method of extricating himself from its vortex. He 
left Turin furtively by night — an act which gave 
colour to the accusation of treason so freely hurled at 
him by the liberals. But the latter were deceived ; 
the unhappy prince had sinned through vacillation, 
not through treason, and the sequel proved such to 
have been the case. Charles Felix refused to receive 
him at Modena : only at Florence did he find a 
welcome from his father-in-law, the Grand Duke of 
Tuscan)-. 

Meanwhile, the sudden departure of the Regent 
had spread trouble and disorder among the revo- 
lutionary partisans. At this difficult juncture, Count 
Santorre Di Santarosa, one of the noblest figures of 
the Italian Risorginiento, assumed direction of the 
go\-ernment. But the absolute party, rejoicing in 
the King's support, maintained a bold front, and 
General De La Tour set up the royal standard at 
Novara, inx'iting all the troops devoted to Charles 
Felix, to rally thereto. The small revolutionar}- 
force, making their way to Lombardy, met De La 
Tour's soldiers below Novara (8th of xA.pril, 1821), 
when the latter, aided b)' a corps of Austrian troops 
— who had passed the Ticino — forced the constitu- 
tionalists to beat a retreat. The Piedmontese revo- 
lution can thus be said to ha\-e been all over in a 
month : its now scattered and fugiti\'e partisans 
repaired to Genoa and from thence into exile. 

"One Sunday in April, 1821, when I was a bo)-," 



PIEDMOXTESE INSURGENTS IN GENOA 8/ 

writes Giuseppe Mazzini, " I was walkinij along the 
Strada Nuova in Genoa with my mother and an old 
friend of the family. The Piedmontese insurrection 
was at an end ; treason, the incapacity of its leaders, 
as well as Austrian interference, had been the main 
factors in its failure. The insurgents flocked to 
Genoa in order to further their escape by sea ; they 
were in an impoverished condition and in search of 
pecuniary aid to pay their way to Spain where revo- 
lution reigned triumphant. Most of them were con- 
fined in San Pier d'Arena, awaiting a chance of 
embarking, but many made their way into the city, 
and I singled them out from amongst the natives, by 
the fashion of their dress, their military air and still 
more, by the deep and settled melancholy of their 
aspect. The population was strangely excited : 
some of the more enthusiastic spirits had pro- 
posed to the chiefs of the movement — like Santarosa 
and Ansaldi — to band themselves together, take 
pos.session of the city and organise a resistance, but 
it was said that the town was destitute of all military 
defence, that the forts were lacking in artillery and 
that the leaders refused this offer with the answer : 
' Reserve yourselves for better things.' There was 
nothing else to be done, therefore, but to provide these 
noble-hearted but poverty-stricken precursors of free- 
dom with money and this the citizens did with great 
liberality. One powerful-looking bronzed and bearded 
man, with a stern face and flashing eye, whom I have 
never forgotten, suddenly stopped and accosted us ; 
he held out a white pocket-handkerchief, simply say- 
ing, ' p'or the proscribed Italians.' M)- mother and 



88 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 

her companion dropped some money into the ker- 
chief and he left us to beg of other passers-by. I 
found later that his name was Rini and that he 
was a captain of the national guard which had been 
formed at the commencement of the revolutionary 
movement. He left with the men for whom his alms 
had been collected and died, I believe, fighting, like 
so many others of our countrymen, for the liberty of 
Spain. This was the first occasion on which there 
arose a confused idea in my mind — I do not say of 
patriotism and liberty, but rather a dim perception 
that one ought to fight if one could for country and 

freedom." 

* 
* * 

The revolutions in Naples and Piedmont had 
both been defective in their origin ; they had not 
been spontaneous, popular risings, but rather purely 
military seditions which the mob had applauded, 
without taking therein an active part ; they had not 
either been simultaneous, for the constitution had 
already been annulled in the Neapolitan States when 
it was proclaimed in Piedmont. Now the rulers, 
under the powerful protection of Austria, were 
enabled to think about wreaking vengeance on their 
conquered foes. 

In Piedmont nearly all those compromised had 
been enabled to take refuge in flight and had devoted 
their arms to the constitutional cause in Spain or to 
the struggle for Greek independence — among the latter 
was Santorre Di Santarosa who died a hero's death 
fighting in the island of Sphacteria, in 1825. Two 



ABSOLUTISM RESTORED / CONFALONIERI 89 

Piedmontese alone mounted the scaffold, Captain 
GarelH and the sub-lieutenant, Laneri. Not till 
Charles Felix had, by these examples, as he thought, 
secured order in his states, did he betake himself to 
Turin (October, 182 1), to favour his people with his 
august presence. 

But far worse than the Piedmontese monarch — 
who for that matter was quite a new phenomenon 
in the House of Savoy — was King Ferdinand I. 
Before entering his Neapolitan States, he despatched 
thither Canosa, the famous minister of police, who. 
by imprisonments and executions, sought to reduce 
the kingdom to order. Among those who paid the 
death penalty were the two sub-lieutenants, Morelli 
and Silvati, who had been the first to raise the cry 
of liberty at Nola. Absolutism reappeared ; corrup- 
tion established its reign once more ; the courtiers 
resumed their intrigues, and a worse government 
than ever was set up and supported by the Austrian 
troops whom the Neapolitans were obliged to main- 
tain in their midst. 

* * 

And now it was Austria's turn to avenge herself 
on the Lombardo-Venetian States. On the evening 
of December 31, 1821, Count Federico Confalonieri 
and his beautiful wife, the Countess Teresa, were 
discussing the late arrests as they sat alone in an 
apartment of their palace in Milan ; the Countess 
was persuading her husband to seek refuge in 
flight and was reminding him for the hundredth 
time, how, a few evenings before, at the theatre of 



90 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 

La Scala, the Austrian marshal, Bubna, had said to 
her: "Why does not Count Federico go into the 
countr)' ? I think the fresh air would do him a great 
deal of good." During this conversation, a commis- 
sary of police, followed by several officials, suddenly 
entered the room, averring, they were there simply for 
the purpose of making a perquisition. But Count 
Federico understood that the fatal hour had come ; 
having asked permission to change his dress, he 
entered his study wherein he had recently caused a 
secret staircase, leading to a dormer-window, to be 
constructed, but the noise made in opening the 
small door of this passage, aroused the suspicions of 
the agents-of-police, who were at once on his track. 
In a trice he reached the head of the staircase, quickly 
shut behind him the heavy trap-door which closed it, 
and rushed to unfasten the window which remained 
open every evening. A curse upon it ! The window 
was closed and it was impossible to undo it ! Whilst 
he vainly rattled at the bar, the trap-door was raised 
and his pursuers were upon him, and Confalonieri, 
giving his wife a last embrace, was led away to prison. 
Gaetano Castillia, Giorgio Pallavicino, Borsieri, 
Tonelli and many other Lombardo-Venetian subjects, 
each accused of secret complicity with the Pied- 
montese revolutionists, had all been previously 
arrested. Only in 1824 was their fate decided; 
Confalonieri and several more were condemned to 
death, but afterwards, being reprieved, were sent to 
languish in the fortress of Spielberg where Pellico, 
Maroncelli and others, condemned to imprisonment 
in past years, still pined in captivity. 



CRUELTY OF FRANCIS OF MOD EN A 9 1 

In such a way was the gulf between the Austrian 
government and the Lombardo-Venetian populations 
ever widened, nor was the Emperor Francis the man 
to have bridged it over. He kept the plan of those 
prisons in his own cabinet and personally augmented 
or diminished the punishments of his captives. His 
special permit had to be obtained for Piero Maron- 
celli to have his leg amputated, after long months of 
intense suffering ; his consent had to be procured 
for Costantino Munari to wear a peruke ; indeed it 
was the Emperor who caused a pillow to be removed 
from under the head of Confalonieri, which had been 
made by poor Countess Teresa's own hands. 

* 

The example of Austria was imitated and even 
surpassed, by the Italian rulers themselves ; for 
where there had been no open manifestation of 
rebellion, the governments, full of dread and 
suspicion, resorted to arrests. Francis IV. of 
Modena distinguished himself among the Italian 
princes by his exceptional brutality. In his own 
small state there were no less than a hundred 
arrested who, bound in threes, were conducted to 
the Castle of Rubiera, and there one of their number, 
a young priest, Giuseppe Andreoli, was executed 
before the eyes of his companions who were placed 
at the windows of the prison on purpose to witness 
the spectacle. 

The Duke of Modena then sought to ingratiate 
himself with Austria, by procuring the latter's support 
to a scheme for excluding Charles Albert from the 



92 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS 

Sardinian throne to which he himself aspired by 
virtue of his marriage with the eldest daughter of 
Victor Emmanuel I. Francis IV., thinking to turn 
to his own advantage the aversion that Charles Felix, 
after the affair of 1821, had entertained towards 
Charles Albert, flattered himself that he could bring 
about the abolition of the Salic law in Piedmont. 
But the opposition of France who distrusted the 
presence of an Austrian archduke on her frontier, 
as well as the unwillingness of Charles Felix to 
deprive the House of Savoy of its temporal rights, 
rendered the design of the Modenese ruler abortive. 

* 

Charles Albert now found himself obliged to give 
a genuine proof of his devotion to the Holy Alliance. 
The latter, after having suppressed the Italian revo- 
lution, aimed at destroying the constitution in Spain. 
For this purpose, a great congress was convened at 
Verona, in October, 1822, at which the Emperor of 
Austria, the Czar of Russia, the King of Prussia and 
the leading Italian rulers, with a crowd of ambassadors 
and courtiers, were present. There, what time they 
listened to Rossini's operas, applauded Catalani's 
singing or assisted at gorgeous spectacles in the 
arena, the members of the Congress occupied them- 
selves with political affairs. Charles Felix, jealous of 
his own independence, obtained a concession for the 
Austrian troops who had entered Piedmont in 1821, 
to leave that province. Not so Ferdinand I. of 
Naples who had onl}- too much need of such a prop 
to keep him on his tlirone ; nay, when the various 



CHARLES ALBERT AV SPAIN 93 

Powers, mistrustful of the predominance of Austria, 
wished to reduce the number of the fifty thousand 
Austrian soldiers in the kingdom of Naples to thirty 
thousand, its ruler proposed enlistino- mercenaries to 
fill up the gap thus left in the ranks. 

But the most important step talcen at the Congress 
was the commission given to France to demolish 
constitutional government in Spain, and Charles 
Albert was actually obliged to enrol himself in the 
French army sent thither, and help destroy that 
constitution which he had himself promulgated in 
Piedmont the year before. He had, moreover, to 
fight those Spanish patriots whose bands had been 
swelled by some of the Piedmontese exiles them- 
selves : surely his was a terribly severe punishment ! 
As befitted his valiant descent, the Sardinian Prince 
distinguished himself by characteristic bravery and 
in the attack on the Trocadero, well deserved from 
the men he commanded, the title of ' first among 
French grenadiers.' It was an honourable distinction, 
if little calculated to please the Italian liberals, but 
many years were }'et to pass ere his compatriots 
could hail him by a more glorious title — that of ' the 
magnanimous King.' 



VI 



TEN YEARS OF REACTION 



The period between 1821 and 1831 was indeed an 
unhappy one for Italy. Under the shadow of Austrian 
protection, the various rulers continued their persecu- 
tion of the constitutional party ; the Jesuit teaching 
authorities were still enervating the Italian character, 
whilst spies and executioners were employed to 
uproot the ' poisonous plant ' of liberalism. Well 
might Italy in those days find her interpreter in that 
most pessimistic of poets — Giacomo Leopardi. 

Many were the obstacles that hindered the de- 
velopment of the sacred principles of freedom and 
patriotism ! Not only was there no liberty of the 
press, but any patriotic allusion, however remote, 
provoked the most brutal condemnation. In an 
air, in the opera of Norma, the theatrical censor 
went so far as to cancel the word libertd (liberty) 
and substitute for it the word lealta (loyalty). Apro- 
pos of this fact, Giovanni Ruffini relates a curious 
occurrence which took place at Genoa. Signor Ron- 
coni, the famous baritone and a great public favourite, 
having, in the ardour of his role, forgotten the above- 



LEOPOLD Il!s REGIMR IN TUSCANY 95 

mentioned emendation, was imprisoned for three days 
in order to refresh his memory. Not long after, sing- 
ing the hne in the Elisi?' d' Amove, describing how a 
peasant enlisted : " Vende la libertd, si fe soldato " 
(" He sold his liberty to be a soldier "), he, waggishly, 
altered it to, " Vef/dc la Jealtd, si fe soldato " (" He 
sold his loyalty to be a soldier "). This variation 
in the text was received with lively applause b}' the 
public who always warmly welcomed anything that 
savoured of political opposition. The next day, the 
poor singer was summoned by the head of the police 
to receive a reprimand for having said that " loyalty 
could be sold," to which Ronconi replied by obser- 
ving that, a few days before, he had been taught in a 
way he was not likely to forget, that lealld ought 
always to be substituted for libertd. The affair had 
no further serious consequences, but it provided all 
Genoa with a laugh at the expense of the government. 
One great impediment to the diffusion of ideas 
arose from the difficulty of communication, further 
aggravated by the numerous customs duties, so that 
the number of books from one end of the peninsula 
to the other was but small. Indeed the only state 
in which a little intellectual life still survived was 
Tuscany, where Leopold H., who had ascended the 
throne in 1824, appeared desirous of continuing the 
placid regime of his father, Ferdinand HI. and of 
his grandfather, Peter Leopold I. Consequently this 
province attracted many liberals and emigrants from 
other parts of Italy. For some years past, Gian Pietro 
Vieusseux, a Genevese, had opened a reading-room in 
Florence and afterwards founded She^ Antolona\^\\\c\\. 



96 TEN YEARS OF REACTION 

during the twelve years of its existence, represented 
all that was best in Italian life and thought. 

Very different was the condition of the Neapolitan 
States. Ferdinand I., the perjured monarch of 1821, 
had been succeeded in 1825, by his son, Francis I. 
at once a most bigoted and dissolute man who 
scrupulously fulfilled the most superstitious practices 
of devotion, only to abandon himself to the most 
scandalous orgies. Under his venal rule, justice, 
honours and the highest offices of the state were alike 
shamelessly sold, and the King positively used to make 
a joke of the traffic which his chamberlain, Viglia, 
carried on therein. It can be easily understood how 
such a regime tended more and more to deprave the 
minds of his subjects, 

Francis I. possessed the distinctive characteristic of 
of his race — cowardice — in its highest degree ; hence 
his police force was augmented and espionage became 
one of the chief institutions in the state. It was 
against this despotic government that the inhabitants 
of Cilento — a mountainous region in the province of 
Salerno — rebelled in the summer of 1828, The King 
despatched thither his minister, Del Carretto who 
put down the rising with barbarous cruelty. The 
heads of those who had been executed were carried 
in iron cages from one village to another and ex- 
posed to view opposite the houses where dwelt the 
mothers, wives and children of the martyrs. 

In 1830, the news of the French Revolution, which 
drove the chief scion of the house of Bourbon from 
the throne, fully intimidated Francis I. ; besides, the 
remembrance of his past haunted his mind with 



PAPAL status: reaction rampant 97 

terrible vividness, and thus tormented by horrible 
phantoms and torn by remorse, he died on the 8th 
of November of that year, leaving behind him a 
memory universally execrated. 

Nor had the Neapolitans reason to envy their neigh- 
bours in the Papal States. Pius VII. died in 1823 
and was succeeded in the pontifical office by Cardinal 
Delia Genga who assumed the title of Leo XII. As 
he owed his promotion to the reactionary party, 
he was an intransigent enemy of all the conquests 
of modern thought. Whilst brigands infested the 
country, the police only thought of capturing the 
liberals, who were arrested in such numbers that the 
prisons were absolutely crammed with victims. The 
province was literally overrun by police constables 
and executioners, especially the district of Romagna 
which writhed even more than the rest under this 
miserable yoke. Cardinal Rivarola, sent to pacify 
the country, only showed the most rigorous severity 
in his treatment of the people. Nor did matters 
mend with the death of Leo XII. in 1S29, for 
Pius VIII., who succeeded him, pursued a like polic}^ 



In short, reaction was now rampant throughout the 
peninsula. But imprisonments and executions, if 
they are successful in retarding the march of ideas, 
will ever be impotent in stopping it altogether. 
Therefore, in spite of persecutions, a strong nucleus 
of patriots continued to labour for the great work of 
Italian redemption. 

The French Revolution of 1830 naturally found an 
8 



98 TEN YEARS OF REACTION 

echo in Italy, but it came neither from Piedmont nor 
Naples, the t\vo kingdoms which had raised the con- 
stitutional standard in 1820-21. In both states most 
of the liberals were in prison or in exile ; moreover 
the arrest of the advocate, i\ngelo Brofferio, and the 
brothers Durando, hindered the outbreak of the Pied- 
montese conspiracy that was being hatched, whilst in 
the Neapolitan kingdom, Ferdinand II., who had just 
ascended the throne, was holding out hopes of a 
prompt amelioration of affairs. Hence the flame of 
revolution was this time kindled and fed in Central 
Italy. 

For some time past, certain Italian liberals had 
been in communication with an association founded in 
Paris, for the purpose of promulgating revolutionary 
ideas throughout Europe and effecting the formation 
of a league of constitutional states against the alliance 
of absolutist powers ; its members included Lafayette, 
the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe and others. 
These secret negotiations were well known to Francis 
IV., the petty tyrant of Modena, who since the recon- 
ciliation of Charles Felix with Charles Albert had 
now lost all hope of succession to the throne of Savoy. 
Urged by his unbridled ambition, Francis determined 
to profit by this liberal league, and wormed himself 
into the ranks of the conspirators by establishing 
private communications with Ciro Menotti, a rich 
manufacturer of Modena, who was one of the local 
leaders of the movement. The Duke promised his 
support to the scheme, with the view of obtaining for 
himself the crown of the future Italian kingdom, and 
Ciro Menotti, although knowing the Prince's perverse 



FRA.XCIS IV. OF MOD EN A AND GIRO MENOTTI 99 

tendencies, trusted to Francis's insatiate lust of power 
to justify his own misplaced confidence. 

When the revolution established Louis Philippe on 
the French throne, the Modenese ruler believed he was 
nearing the goal of his ambition, but the new King of 
France, in order to get himself acknowledged as such 
by the absolutist monarchs of Europe, communicated 
to Austria the details of the Italian plot. Francis IV.; 
aware of this denunciation, but pretending, notwith- 
standing, to know nothing about it, wrote to warn the 
court of Vienna against Louis Philippe ; moreover, 
he assured them of the existence of a conspiracy in 
which the French king and some Italian liberals 
were implicated, to which he admitted having 
feigned adherence for his own purposes. Then, 
fearing this were not enough to merit the pardon 
of Austria, he proceeded to display a ferocious zeal 
against his ci-devant accomplices. 

On the night of the 2nd-3rd of February, 1831, the 
chief leaders of the plot had assembled at the house 
of Giro Menotti in Modena, for the purpose of making 
final arrangements, when a regiment of ducal troops 
arrived and surrounded the building. The besieged 
barricaded the doors and for several hours offered a 
vigorous resistance ; eventually, the soldiers brought 
up a piece of artillery by which the dwelling was 
almost demolished and its occupants, now nearly 
all wounded, were taken prisoners. Francis IV. 
immediately forwarded the following note to the 
governor of Reggio : " A terrible plot against me has 
been discovered this very night. The conspirators 
are in my hands. Send me the executioner.' 

L.ofC. 



lOO TEN YEARS OF REACTION 

The executioner was despatched without delay, 
but with his arrival at Modena came the news that 
a rising had broken out in the neighbourhood of 
Bologna. This provoked such intense excitement in 
the city that Francis fled terrified, taking with him 
Giro Menotti closely guarded, and thus pursued by 
the sounds of sedition, he sought and found protection 
in the Austrian garrison of Mantua. 



But how had the revolution broken out at Bologna? 
To understand it, we must revert to the cruel treat- 
ment of the Romagna provinces during the pon- 
tificates of Leo XII. and Pius VIII. The latter had 
died on the 30th of November, 1830, when the news 
from France was already exciting a ferment in the 
popular mind. The conclave was of long duration, 
and the interregnum thus offered appeared to the 
liberals a good opportunity for rising. The cardinals, 
scenting danger, hastened on their deliberations and 
on the 2nd of February, 1831, raised Brother Mauro 
Cappellari to the popedom under the title of Gregory 
XVI. But before the news of this election arrived 
in Romagna, the Bolognese, encouraged by the aspect 
of affairs in Modena, were in open insurrection. The 
papal legate was obliged to quit the city, and the 
revolution thus bloodlessly effected in so peaceable 
and methodical a manner, soon extended throughout 
Romagna, the Marches and parts of Umbria. 

The deputies from the freed provinces assembled 
in convocation at Bologna on the 26th of February, 
1 83 1, declared the temporal power of the Pope to be 



SUCCESS OF INSUKRECTJONARY MOVEMENT lOI 

at an end and formed a federation of the ' United 
Italian Provinces,' presided over by the advocate 
Vicini. This political movement was abetted by the 
two youthful brothers Bonaparte, one of whom was 
shortly afterwards to die at Forli, the other to be- 
come Emperor of the French under the title of 
Napoleon III. 

Thus, in a few days and without bloodshed, a great 
transformation had taken place, and the tricoloured 
banner now fluttered from the banks of the lower Po 
to those of the upper Tiber. Nor was the revo- 
lution confined to the limits of the Papal States. 
The flight of Francis IV. had dispelled all his people's 
fears, and the insurrectionary movement was acclaimed 
throughout the province of Emilia, so that the Duchess 
Marie Louise left Parma to seek a refuge amid the 
Austrian bayonets in the citadel of Piacenza. Mean- 
time, provisional governments were everywhere being 
organised. It was now that Giovanni Berchet wrote 
his famous hymn of war to heighten popular en- 
thusiasm : — 

" Su, figli d'ltalia, su in armi, coraggio ! 
II suolo qui e nostro ; del nostro retaggio 
II turpe mercato finisce pei re. 
Un popol divlso per sette destini 
In sette spezzato da sette confini 
Si fonde in un solo, piu servo non e. 
Su, ttalia, su in armi ! Venuto e il tuo di ! 
Dei re congiurati la tresca fini. 
Dair Alpi alio Stretto fratel'li siam tutti ! 
Sui limiti schiusi, sui troni distrutti 
Piantiamo i comuni tre nostri color ; 
II verde, la speme tant' anni pasciuta, 
II rosso, la gioia d'averla compiuta, 
II bianco, la fede fraterna d'aiiior. ..." 



102 T^/'.'/V ]■/■:. I A'S OF A'/'Lirr/ON 

(V[i, up, sons of Ital)', ciiuiago he ours ! 
The land is our own, and no longer let jiowers 
And rulers iniquitous trade in our shame ! 
O, seven are our jjeopies, ami se\en are tiie fates 
That gowan oui- destinies, seven are their slates ; 
lUit servitude o'er, then one is our name. 
To arms, scms of llal\ ! Now dawns the day ! 
We've done with the kin^s tliat are traitors, for a)'e. 
We are hretiniai ail fnmi the Alps to the sea ! 
Our thrones aie demohshed : our frontiers ari' free ; 
Our Iricoloured banner is lloalin.^; above — 
I\.sj,'-n'en, for the hope that has ripened throui^h years 
While /vtf, for the joy of fidninient appears. 
And Tw/^/A' is the syud)ol of brotherly love. . . .) 



But the illusion was all too short. The Pope, the 
Duke of Modcna and the Duchess of Parma, pro- 
tested at^aiust the acts of tlu^ provisional o(>vtM-iuncnts 
established in their states and implored the assistance 
of the imperial troops. The Vienna cabinet was 
equally anxious to abolish these revolutionary o()\x'in- 
ments south of tlu- Po, whose existence would ha\e 
menaced its own power on the north. I'hc Italians 
trusted to the obsei\ance of the principle of non- 
intervention proclaimed by the new French monarch)-, 
which had already been applied to Bels^ium, but facts 
soon proved that Louis Philippe was none too jealous 
in dclcndiiiL;- his theories against the will of Austria. 

In the month of I^'ebruary, the Austrian troops at 
Piacen/.a escorted Marie Louise back again to Parma. 
So far, however, the non-intervention axiom had not 
been violated, seeiuL;' that the Duchess was in her own 
territor}-, and the trcjoj^s who had reinstated her on 
the throne, h)- the treaty of 1815, remained in the 
dukedom. 



.■II/SVA'/.I.V I'ROOPS IN MODENA AND RO MAGNA I03 

By tlic beginning of March, Austrian soldiers had 
likewise entered Modena and restored Francis IV. 
to power. The Duke was barely reinstated on his 
throne than he thought himself bound to give his ally 
a substantial pledge of his devotion, by executing 
vengeance on his enemies. To this end, he called to 
his aid the hated Canosa who had been minister 
of Police under Ferdinand I. of Naples. One of the 
tyrant's first victims was Giro Menotti whose life, at 
the time of the plot, he had solemnly promised to 
spare under all circumstances. As pretext for her 
interference in Modena, Austria could still claim her 
eventual rights of succession in the duchy, so the 
united Italian Provinces continued to regard them- 
selves as secure, and in carder not to infringe their 
own principle of non-intervention, disarmed the 
Modenese liberals who, under the leadershijj (jf 
General Zucchi, had ix.-lircd to Bolognese territory. 

However, Austria who was heedless of the open 
declarations of PVance, since she knew the secret in- 
tentions of Louis Philippe, despatched a body of troops 
into Romagna. The provisional government, seeing 
resistance to be impossible, withdrew from Bologna 
to Ancona. Meanwhile, a sanguinary struggle took 
l)lace at Rimini, in which the small Italian army — at 
that time directed by General Zucchi — was defeated. 
The provisional government then signed a treaty of 
capitulation (March 26, 183 i) with Cardinal Benvenuti 
who, sent by the Pope to the insurgents, had been 
treated by the latter as an hostage. But this capitula- 
tion was ignored both by the Pope and the Austrians: 
a vessel which carried a large number of the revolu- 



104 TEN YEARS OF REACTION 

tionists was seized, as it left the port of Ancona, by 
the Austrian squadron, and the captured patriots 
were taken to the prisons of Venice. Many among 
them — including Terenzio Mamiani — were after a 
few months' imprisonment, banished to foreign lands 
where, by their writings, they helped to foster sym- 
pathy for Italian grievances. Some few, however, 
were kept in confinement ; among these was General 
Zucchi who, having once served in the Austrian 
army, was regarded as a traitor and condemned to 
death — a sentence afterwards commuted to that of 
life-long detention in the fortress of Palmanova, where 
we shall find him again in 1848. 

* 

Thus in less than two months, a revolution, begun 
so auspiciously, was totally suppressed ; those cities 
which had, only a little before, joyfully hailed the 
tricoloured standard, now saw the Austrian flag 
hoisted over their fortresses, and Austrian gibbets 
arising under its shadow. 

But the same nations which had, either directly or 
indirectly, contributed to the re-establishment of the 
Pope's temporal sway, grasped the fact that the latter 
stood in need of serious modifications. It was no 
longer possible, in the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, that a population of several millions of men 
should be ruled by a few thousand priests ; therefore, 
in the same year, 1831, the five great Powers of 
Europe — England, France, Austria, Prussia and 
Russia — presented a collective note to the Holy See, 
under the name of a Memorandum, in which they 



AUSTRIAN AND FRENCH INTERVENTION I OS 

insisted on some absolutely indispensable reforms. 
The pontifical court, as was ever its custom, pro- 
fessed to receive these representations with deference 
and promised to take them into account, but with no 
real intention of doing anything whatever in the matter. 
In short, the concessions made in response to this 
Memorandum were quite insignificant, and a blind des- 
potism continued to prevail in the Papal States. Even 
those liberals who had put confidence in the inter- 
vention of diplomacy, seeing their hopes thus blasted, 
determined to justify their arguments by force; agita- 
tions began afresh, and armed bands of men were 
organised with a view to active measures. 

As the Austrians had already retired, the papal 
government caused Swiss soldiers to oppose the 
insurgents, armed the dregs of the Romagna popula- 
tion and incited them against the liberals : hence 
the massacres of Cesena and Forli in 1832. In the 
face of such butcheries and pillage, the Austrians 
intervened a second time and installed themselves at 
Bologna. Then King Louis Philippe, severely blamed 
by his Chamber of Deputies for the base part played 
by France towards Italy, deemed it advisable to act 
and sent a French regiment to occupy the citadel of 
Ancona. In fact, the Austrians remained at Bologna, 
and the P>ench at Ancona, till the end of 1838; 
whilst under those two flags the wretched provinces 
continued to submit to the government of military 
commissions and exceptional tribunals. 

Throughout Italy the system of violent repression 
of all liberal manifestations continued. It was even 
so in Piedmont, although Charles Albert had sue- 



io6 



TEN YEARS OF REACTION 



ceeded Charles Felix in 1831. The former had 
come into power backed by the liveliest expecta- 
tions of all Italian liberals who saw in him the 
Carbonaro of 1821. These reminiscences, however, 
were not altogether grateful to the new king ; rather 
did he seem disposed to regard the revolutionists 
coldly, and disinclined to draw suspicion on himself: 
he maintained the while an attitude of reserve, and 
yielded none his confidence. During the first years 
of his reign, indeed, he appeared to have renounced 
his youthful dreams of glory, to have abjured the 
sacred principle of national independence and to be 
content with the t'ole of the grenadier of the Trocadero. 




VII 



GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUNG ITALY' 

Just at the commencement of Charles Albert's 
reign, a letter, dated from Marseilles and addressed 
to the new king, was circulated among Italian 
patriots, amongst whom it evoked universal en- 
thusiasm. Charles Albert also received a copy of 
this missive which ran as follows : — 



" Sire ! Have you never fixed your gaze — one of 
those eagle glances to which a world is revealed — ■ 
on this smiling Italy of ours, radiant as Nature's self, 
crowned with two thousand years of glorious memo- 
ries, the foster-mother of genius and — were she only 
united, and protected against foreign insult by a 
strong will and a (ew valiant hearts — infinitely power- 
ful ? And have you never said, ' Here is a country 
destined to glorious things ! ' Have you never 
contemplated the race by whom she is peopled, 
magnificent still, in spite of the shadow with which 
servitude has obscured it, great alike through vital 
instincts, strength of intellect and the energy of 
mighty, if misguided, passions — misguided, because 



I08 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'yOUNG ITALY' 

circumstances have hindered their development in 
the right direction, but notwithstanding, the elements 
out of which nations are created — a race, moreover, 
so great that adversity has never been able to 
conquer its indestructible hopes. Has this thought 
never come to you : ' fashion — as God did from 
chaos — a world out of these scattered elements ; 
re-unite the dispersed particles and say: "It is mine 
all throughout, and it is happy:'" then thou shalt be 
like unto the Creator Himself, and twenty millions 
of men will exclaim, ' God is in heaven and Charles 
Albert on earth ! ' 

" Sire, surely you once cherished these sentiments ; 
the blood coursed joyously in your veins, fired by 
illimitable hopes and dreams of glory ; you passed 
many sleepless nights, meditating on that unique 
idea, nay, you yourself plotted in its behalf And 
what need to blush for it, for there is no more sacred 
vocation in the whole world than that of the con- 
spirator who constitutes himself the avenger of 
humanity and the interpreter of the eternal laws 
of nature. The time was not then ripe, but why 
should ten years and a precarious crown have de- 
stroyed the ideals of your youth ? . . . 

" If your soul, Sire, is indeed dead to noble aspi- 
rations, if you have no other aim in reigning 
than to pursue the miserable routine of your 
royal predecessors, if you have the soul of a 
slave, then bend your neck under the Austrian yoke 
and be a despot ; but even then let your despotism 
be genuine, because a single step which you take 
out of the beaten track, makes }'ou an enemy of 



MAZZINI S ADVICE TO CHARLES ALBERT IO9 

that Power whom you fear. The Austrian mistrusts 
you, but drag to his feet the heads of ten, yea, 
twenty victims ; load the captives with yet heavier 
fetters ; repay, with unmeasured submission, that 
contempt which he has poured out upon you for ten 
years past. Perhaps the tyrant of Italy will forget 
that you have conspired against him ; perhaps he 
will allow you to keep for some years longer the 
provinces which he has coveted since 1814. If, 
on the contrary, in reading these words, your mind 
reverts to those moments when you dared to look 
beyond the dominion of an Austrian fief, if you hear 
a voice within you which cries : ' Thou wert born to 
a great destiny ' ; — oh, follow it ; it is the voice of 
your good genius, the voice of Time himself who 
offers you his aid in climbing from century to cen- 
tury, till you reach eternity ; it is the voice of all 
Italy who only waits for a word, a single word, to 
become yours. 

" Proffer her this word ! . . . Place yourself at 
the head of the nation and inscribe on your banner, 
'Union, Liberty, Independence!' Proclaim the 
sanctity of thought ; vindicate your claim to be 
the interpreter of popular rights ; declare yourself 
the regenerator of all Italy and free her from the 
barbarians ! Build up the future ; give your name 
to a century, and begin an era of your own ! , . . 

" Sire ! the enterprise may be regarded as very 
difficult by men who trust only to numerical 
strength, as well as by those who, in order to 
change empires, rely but on negotiations and em- 
bassies. But the way of triumph is assured, if you 



no GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUNG ITALY' 

can thoroughly understand your position, firmly 
convince yourself that you are consecrated to a 
holy mission and proceed with frank, decisive 
and energetic determination. Opinion is a power 
which balances all others, and great things are not 
accomplished by protocols, but by a right under- 
standing of the times in which we live. The 
secret of power lies in the will. Choose a way 
which harmonises with the nation's ideal and keep 
to it unalterably ; be firm and seize your oppor- 
tunity, for you have victory in your grasp. . . . 

" But if you fail to accomplish the work, others 
will do it without an\^ help of yours and in spite 
of you ! Do not let yourself be deceived by the 
enthusiasm which greeted your accession, but seek 
for the ground of that enthusiasm and you will find 
that, in greeting you, the people greeted hope, 
because your name recalled the man of 1821, and 
if you should cheat their expectations, a spasm of 
rage will succeed a joy which only has reference 
to the future. . . 

" I have told you the truth. Sire, free men await 
your answer in deeds ! However it may be, rest 
assured that posterity will hail you as the first 
.unong ineji, or the last of Italian tyrants. Choose ! 

" ' An Italian.' " 

And who was this Itanan who thus so clearly 
expressed his country's ideal of unit)' and freedom? 
Tt was Giuseppe Mazzini, a young Genoese of 
twent\--six years of age, who had just come out of 
the prisons of Savona. From his earl}' student 



MAZZINIS PROJECTS FOR ITALIAN UNIFICATION III 

days be had been an enthusiast for the sacred 
principles of patriotism and Hberty but suspected 
of complicity with the Carbonari, he had been 
arrested and condemned to several months of 
imprisonment. During his captivity, he had 
thought much on the matter and had come to 
the conclusion that, so far, the Italian revolutionary 
movements had failed, because the people had been 
excluded from them. Hence, in his opinion, it was 
necessary to initiate the masses into this new idea 
and before all, to make it clear to them that patriot- 
ism implied not only love of their own particular state, 
but of the whole of Italy. Mazzini was, "therefore, the 
very first practical thinker to devise Italian unifica- 
tion. 

On his liberation from captivity, the Sardinian 
government had offered him the alternative of 
confining himself to some small city in Piedmont, 
or leaving the kingdom. However, during his 
prison solitude, Mazzini had been meditating the 
formation of a new secret society, and rightly 
imagined that he would have small chance of 
furthering its object in a petty Piedmontese town, 
under the perpetual surveillance of the police ; he 
therefore chose exile and repaired to Marseilles, 
whence he had just written the above - quoted 
letter to Charles Albert. Later, Mazzini owned he 
had done this for the purpose of undeceiving those 
liberals who still had confidence in the King of 
Sardinia, and to promote the general acceptance of 
ultra-republican principles. Charles Albert's answer 
to the letter was, indeed, just the one that Mazzini 



112 GIUSEPPE MAZZLXI AND ' YOUNG ITALv' 

had expected ; the King ordered the writer should 
be arrested if ever he appeared on the frontier, and 
in the meantime, redoubled his severity against 
liberalism. 

* * 

In the meantime, Mazzini had founded, at Mar- 
seilles, his new society, of ' Young Italy' and, under 
the same title, he published a periodical for the 
purpose of instilling into the popular mind the 
idea of a united, free, independent and republican 
Italy. The police of the different states in the 
peninsula frequently arrested those persons sup- 
posed to be in communication with the originator 
of such a revolutionary publication, but this did not 
prevent the latter being circulated everywhere, though 
its readers and propagandists ran the risk of im- 
prisonment and even of death. 

A man of ardent faith, spotless life and lofty 
genius, as well as a writer of impassioned style 
and a born leader of men, Giuseppe Mazzini 
exercised an absolute fascination over the Italian, 
patriots who rallied to his standard in goodly 
numbers. His most attached friend and devoted 
follower at Genoa was Jacopo Ruffini. The latter, 
having been arrested, dreaded lest some of the 
terrible methods of the police might be successful in 
extorting revelations from him, and therefore deter- 
mined to commit suicide ; taking a small, rusty 
iron bar out of the prison door, he sharpened its 
point on the wall and, with the weapon thus 
fashioned, opened his veins. Thus did Jacopo 



FAILURE OF SAfOV EXPEDITION II3 

Ruffiiii, in the Genoese prison of the Torre, win 
for himself an immortal name on the 19th of June, 
1833. His brothers also were arrested and then 
banished ; one of them, Giovanni, afterwards 
acquired a literary reputation in England by his 
novels Doctor Antonio and Lorenzo Benoni. 

Among the exiles from the Sardinian states in 
the same year was a young priest, Vincenzo 
Gioberti, whose philosophical writings were begin- 
ning to make his name known. Unfortunately, 
the reactionary courtiers who surrounded Charles 
Albert insisted on urging him to bloodshed and 
too well succeeded in their cruel design ; several 
of the conspirators of 1833 were condemned to 
death, among whom were Francesco Miglio, 
Giuseppe Biglia, also Antonio Gavotti, executed 
in Genoa, and the attorney, Andrea Vochieri, shot 
at Alessandria where he had shown throughout his 
trial and up to his last moments, a truly heroic courage. 

The persecutions which the Piedmontese govern- 
m.ent set on foot against the party of Mazzini, 
incited the latter to organise a movement against 
Piedmont. He rallied some hundred fugitives and 
banded them together under the command of 
Colonel Ramorino who had acquired a certain 
military renown in the recent Polish insurrection. 
Early in 1834, this band of insurgents penetrated 
into Savo}', but they were received with indifference 
by the population who turned a deaf ear to the 
enthusiastic proclamations (jf Mazzini, so after an 
encounter with the royal troops, the revolutionists 
retired. 

9 



114 GIUSEPPE AL4ZZINI AXD 'VOUXG ITALY* 

It had been arranged that other risings in the 
different Piedmontese towns were to break out simul- 
taneously, but after the failure of the Savoy expedi- 
tion, they were countermanded. In the meantime, 
the police set about making arrests. Amongst those 
embroiled in this conspiracy was a young Nizzard 
sailor, named Giuseppe Garibaldi, who had tried to 
find adherents for the Mazzinian cause in the ranks 
of the royal navy and on this account, had been 
condemned to death in the same year (1834). How- 
ever, happily for Italy, he succeeded in making his 
escape. 

This severe repression of revolutionary enterprise 
in 1 833-1 834, somewhat tended to alienate the 
s\-mpathies of Italian patriots for Charles Albert, 
but did not altogether nullify them, and the few 
reforms he had already made in the administration 
of the state, sufficed to keep alive their lingering 
belief in his liberal tendencies. 

In 1835, the Emperor Francis of Austria died 
and his place was filled by Ferdinand I., an absolutel)' 
inept prince, with so mean a sense of his exalted 
position that he used to say : " It would be easy 
enough to be emperor, if it were not for the continual 
bother of signing decrees." It can easily be under- 
stood how a monarch, so constituted, relegated all 
power to his prime minister. Prince Metternich, at 
once the most violent partisan of absolutist ideas and 
the bitterest adversary of Italian patriotic aspirations 
— the author, moreover, of that famous phrase : 
■' Italy is only a geographical expression." 

Metternich now seized the opportunit}' of taking 



FERDLYAND II. OF NAPLES I HIS RULING PASSIONS I I 5 

the Emperor into Italy, to receive the crown of 
the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom at Milan. The 
minister desired that all the princes of the peninsula 
should be invited to this solemn function, because, 
as vassals, they would thus do homage to their 
common tyrant. But Charles xAlbert refused to be 
present, and this independent attitude sufficed to 
re-awaken that cordiality towards him which had 
begun to wax faint in Italian breasts. 

Another Italian prince, Ferdinand II. of Naples, 
was, on the contrary, now rendering himself univer- 
sally hated. When in 1830, at little over twenty 
years of age, he ascended the throne, he had aroused 
good hopes of better things by issuing a proclama- 
tion, in which he declared that Providence had 
charged him with the duty of assuaging the griev- 
ances of the Neapolitan people, and that his regime 
would be a wise and just one. But the nomination 
of Del Carretto as minister of police, soon disillu- 
sioned the new King's subjects. Ferdinand II. 
was animated by two ruling passions : an insati- 
able thirst for power and an inordinate love of 
money ; the first forbade him to introduce into 
his states aught but the shadow of a constitutional 
government, and the second prevented him from 
troubling about the abuses fostered by his employes, 
provided they required but little for their work. 
By this means the most brazen corruption prevailed 
in the administration of his kingdom, and a regular 
system of rapine was practised by all the govern- 



Il6 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUNG ITALY' 

ment officials. Yet no one dared to protest against 
it since to print the least allusion to public abuses, 
exposed the authors guilty of such hardihood to 
imprisonment or exile. Any person suspected of 
liberal opinions was thrown into prison, without the 
government giving any motive for such an arrest, 
and to such an extent had spies wormed themselves 
into all ranks of society that every one hesitated to 
express his own opinions. Besides, King Ferdinand 
was wont to say : " My people have no need to 
think ; I am responsible for their welfare and 
dignity." 

The only person in the Neapolitan court beloved 
by the people, was the King's consort, Maria Christina 
of Savoy — daughter of Victor Emmanuel I. — called 
by her subjects, on account of her many virtues, ' the 
Saint.' Maria Christina died in 1836, and Ferdinand 
II. who had always treated her brutally, soon repaired 
to Vienna to affiance himself to an Austrian arch- 
duchess. 

In 1837, the discontent in Sicily found vent in 
a popular rising. There an outbreak of cholera had 
claimed many victims, and indignation, terror, ignor- 
ance and popular superstition combined to give 
credence to a rumour that the government were 
compassing the death of the citizens : hence in 
several places tumults broke out. The liberals 
wished to profit by this outburst of fury to free 
Sicily from the Bourbon }^oke. Syracuse rose, 
and thence the revolution extended to the neigh- 
bouring district of Catania. But Ferdinand II, sent 
Del Carretto thither who, followed by police-agents 




-fMl..' 



KEKDINAND II. OK NAPLES. 



Il8 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AXD ^ YOUXG ITALY ' 

and executioners, erected gibbets in all the villages, 
and by this means succeeded in restoring order in 
the island. 

* 

Meanwhile, Mazzini, expelled from France, had 
taken refuge in freer England where, by his writings, 
he was doing good service in familiarising English 
people with Italian literature, as well as in diffusing 
amongst them a strong current of sympathy for the 
affairs of the peninsula. Thence he boldly prose- 
cuted his political mission and continually aimed 
at arousing in the minds of his compatriots, hatred 
against internal and foreign tryants. 

But it was not only by the inflammatory writings 
of Mazzini that such sentiments were propagated 
amongst his fellow-countr}'men : all the Italian 
poetry and prose of that period were, so to speak, 
conspiring for the same end. Silvio Pellico's Le Mie 
Pi'igioni, that calm recital of the martyrdom endured 
by its author in Austrian prisons with such saint-like 
fortitude, injured Austrian prestige more than the 
loss of a battle could have done. The sentiment 
of his tragedy Francesca Da Rimini had also a 
most powerful effect on audiences, especially when 
they were declaimed by the actor Gustavo Modena: — 

" Per le, per le, che cilladini hai prodi, 
Italia mia, coniballer'), se oltraggio 
Ti moverii I'invidia, E 1 piu genlile 
Terren non sei di quanli scalda il sole ? 
D'ogni beirarte non sei madre, o Italia ? 
Polve di eroi non e la polve tua? . . .'" 



TENDENCY OF ITALIAN LITERATURE II9 

(For thee, the mother of most valiant suns, 
For thee, my Italy, I fight, e'en though 
Envy may vex thee sore. But surely thou 
Must be the sweetest clime the sun illumes. 
And mistress of all arts : O Italy ! 
Is not thy dust ashes of heroes dead ?) 



But even more than those of Pellico, were the 
tragedies of NiccoHni on fire with hatred of tyranny 
and love of Hberty. At the representation of Gio- 
vanni Da Procida (the legendary conspirator of the 
Sicilian Vespers), the Austrian ambassador at Florence 
remarked to his French confrere, that "the play seemed 
like a letter addressed to Frenchmen, but that its 
contents were evidently meant for the Austrians," 
and thus did the Italian people understand it. In 
his Arnaldo Di Brescia — a tragedy which evoked 
the greatest enthusiasm — the incisive verses of 
Niccolini severely castigated the vices of the clergy. 

Side by side with Niccolini, Francesco Domenico 
Guerrazzi quite bewitched the Italian youth. He 
sent word to Mazzini : " I have written this book — 
the Assedio Di Firenze — because I have not been 
able to fight a battle." Certain it is that his kindling 
words helped to produce heroes among the Italian 
people. 

In the romances of D'Azeglio, Grossi and Manzoni, 
and the histories of Balbo, Colletta, Amari and 
Troya, as throughout the writings of Tommaseo, 
Vannucci, Capponi and Cantu, and the poetry of 
Rossetti, Berchet, Giusti and Prati, there vibrated the 
patriotic note — that note which even found an echo 
in the music of Bellini, Rossini and later still, of 



I20 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUXG ITALY' 

Verdi. All these works were most efficacious in pro- 
moting the idea of the regeneration of Italy, and that 
which for so long had been the dream of a few chosen 
spirits, now became a universal aspiration throughout 
the country. Literary men sought, indeed, for themes 
which should best express the national sentiment, 
and the least political allusions were at once eagerly 
seized upon by that public which felt itself in sym- 
pathy with the writers ; thus, when they came to 
these verses of Berchet in the Lega Loinbarda : — 

"Su, nell'irto, increscioso Alemanno 
Su, Lombardi, puntate la spada, 
Fate vostra la vostra contrada, 
Questa bella che il ciel vi sorti " : — 

(Ay, into the insolent Teuton 
Plunge boldly, O Lombards, your swords ! 
Make the beauteous land heaven awards 
As your portion, for ever your own) : — • 

every one's thoughts reverted — not to the Germans 
of Frederic Barbarossa — but to the Austrian troops of 
Ferdinand I. Even the science congresses helped to 
spread liberal influences. Leopold II., Grand Duke of 
Tuscany, was persuaded by savants that such scien- 
tific conferences would enhance his prestige in that 
beautiful province which had always been the chosen 
home of learning, and the Grand Duke, touched by this 
adulation, allowed these assemblies to be inaugurated 
at Pisa in 1839. The example first given by Leopold 
II. who prided himself on honouring the learned men 
convened at Pisa, influenced the other more ambi- 
tious princes : Charles Albert and Ferdinand II. 



EFFECT OF SCIENCE CONGRESSES 



121 



now likewise permitted these congresses to be held 
in their dominions. Such gatherings gradually took 
place in all the Italian provinces — except in the 
Papal States — and though insignificant in their 
scientific results, they much profited the national 
cause, by facilitating communications between the 
most eminent men scattered in the different parts 
of Italy and by arousing the peninsula from that 
political torpor in which it had been, up till this 
time, studiously lulled by its rulers. 




VI II 



Till' i-ourK ov rriu.ir (Mmnion 



MazzINI iisctl to sa>- : " I\lart\Tiloin is never 
sterile." aiui therefore he taxoured all insurreetioiiar)- 
projeets set on foot In- the most ardent oi' his 
diseiples. llenee t"ollo\\'ei.l svinie risiiv^s, ciuiekl)- 
reprCvSsed, in the Abriizzi (l84i\ in Ronia^na 1,1843^ 
and in Calabria , iS44\ With this Calabrian move- 
ment is assoeiated the heroie expeilition undertaken 
by the Handiera brothers. Attilio and l^milio 
Hantliera, two youn_i.>' X'enetian ot^cers (^sons of 
that Austrian admiral who had captured the 
vessel whieh was earrx-ini;' the insuri^ents of iS^^i 
from the jiort of Ancona^, had been firetl by the 
writins^s of IMa/.zini with the determination to eon- 
seerate their lives to the redemption o( Ital}'. In 
184J they re\'ealed their piojeet to Ma/.zini and 
theneeforward ke|U up with him an unbroken eorre- 
spondenee. They sueeeeded in induein^; another 
Venetian na\al offieer, l>i>menieo Moro, to share 
their uiulertakini;, abandoned the Austrian \essels 
under their command and repaired to Corfu, there 
to await the news oi any outlnwd^ in Ital)', which 



7//A i:\\hll'k\ /:ko7'///:kS : I'l \c l:N/.() ClnlU-UTI I 23 

iiiij^lit give \.\\v\\\ an ofjpoi-tiniily of riMhtiii!.f for the 
sacred cause-. 

Then cainc llic revolt in f'alaljiia, wliii.li lia'l no 
soDHcr broken out than it was qiu-lled. A false 
reporl, however, was circulat :il at rorfii tliat the 
insiirreetion was being kepi ah've in the- nioinifain 
districts. The Hanfhc;ra brrjthers decided to carry 
aid to the insurgents and ralh'ed other patriots to 
their standard. A band of only nineteen, they 
arrived at (^olrone, in ('alabria, aiul thence made 
for Co.sen/.a. Hut, betrayerl by a traitor in their 
ranks, tliey were (|uickly sin'ronnded by a considerable 
number of .\ea|jolitan troops and, after a short struggle, 
were taken prisoners and eondiicted to Cosen/.a where 
they were condemned to death. Nine of them paid 
the extreme penalty on the- 25th of Jidy, 1^44, in the 
valley of Rovito : /Xttilio and lunilio Handiera, 
Domenico Moro, Nicola Ricciotti of hVosinone, 
IvUpatelli of Perugia, Rr^cco of Lugo, Venerucci fjf 
Forli, lierti (jf Ravenna and Nardi of M(jdena 
tranquilly faced the lV)inbon bullets with the cry 
of " Italy for ever!" for the last time on their lips. 



The death of the Handiera brothers sent a thrill 
of hfjrror throughout the pein'nsula but, while fle- 
ploring the fate of these jiatriots, the majority of 
Italians well understood that such isolat^i-d move- 
ments and agitations could produce n(j satisfactory 
results, that (;ther means must be found, another 
order of ideas ftjllowed, to attain their ends a theory 
pursued by Vinren/.o (iioberti, a priest of Tuiin, and 



124 ^^-^ FORCE OF PUBLIC OPINION 

a number of Piedmontese writers. Gioberti, who 
had been exiled from Piedmont in 1833, had taken 
refuge in Brussels where he had acquired considerable 
reputation by his philosophical works. In that city, 
he published a book in 1843, which bore the title // 
Primato Morale E Civile Dcgli Italiani. The Italians, 
indeed, could ill boast of any primacy at that epoch, 
rather were they plunged in the lowest depths of 
misery and humiliation, and Gioberti himself was 
not slow to recognise the fact when he wrote as 
follows : — 

" While, to the north, there is a people number- 
ing only twenty-four millions who rule the sea, 
make Europe tremble, own India, vanquish 
China and occupy the best ports of Asia, Africa, 
America and Oceania, what great things have we 
Italians done? What are our manual and intellectual 
exploits? Where are our fleets and our colonies? 
What rank do our legates hold ; what force do they 
wield ; what wise or authoritative influence do they 
exert in foreign courts ? What weight attaches to 
the Italian name in the balance of European power? 
Foreigners, indeed, know and still visit our countr}', 
but only for the purpose of enjoying the changeless 
beauty of our skies and of looking upon the ruins 
of our past. But what profits it to speak of 
glor}', riches and power ? Can Ital\' sa\' she has a 
place in the world ? Can she boast of a life of her 
own and of a political autonomj-, when she is awed 
by the first insolent and ambitious upstart who 
tramples her under foot and galls her with his yoke? 
Who is there who shudders not when he reflects that. 



EFFECTS OF GIOBEKTl S BOOK 125 

disunited as we are, we must be the prey of any 
assailant whatever, and that we owe even that wretched 
fraction of independence which charters and protocols 
still allow us, to the compassion of our neighbours." 
" Although," he adds in conclusion, " all this has come 
upon us through our own fault ; nevertheless, by the 
exercise of a little strength of will and determination, 
without upheavals or revolutions and without perpe- 
trating injustice, we can still be one of the first races 
in the world." 

It was, indeed, a seductive programme, and Gioberti 
rendered it yet more so by his fervently enthusiastic 
style which was combined with a singularly temperate 
judgment. He awarded praise to princes and peoples 
alike, endeavouring to establish concord between 
them, and especially extolled the papacy which he 
called " the glory of Italy " and manifested his desire 
that " a pacific and lasting confederation of Italian 
princes, commanded and protected by the Pope," 
might be organised — a scheme in which Austria was 
also to find her place. 

The effects of his book were extraordinary. The 
rulers, flattered by its eulogies, permitted its free 
circulation in Italy ; the people, proudly realising in 
these eloquent pages that they had once had pre- 
eminence in the world and ought to regain it, warmly 
applauded the author ; while the clergy, attracted by 
the eloquence of one of their own body who taught 
that religion and patriotism ought to be associated, 
ardently welcomed the ideals presented by Gioberti. 
His sentiments in fact found so much favour with the 
public, that they directly gave rise to the ' Neo- 



I2t) THE FORCE OF PUBLIC OPINION 

Guelph ' party, so-called because it wished to place 
the Pontiff at the head of the national movement. 
The Jesuits alone, foreseeing the far-reaching effects 
of such ideals in the future, fiercely attacked the 
book and its writer, but Gioberti retorted, in 1845, 
by / Prolegoineni, and later by his Gesnita Moderno. 

Another book, which appeared in 1844, had also 
excited much attention — Cesare Balbo's Speranze 
Ultalia. This author likewise extolled the papacy, 
propounded very moderate ideas and aimed at 
forming a union of Italian states, only stipulating 
that Charles x'Xlbert, King of Sardinia, as the only 
Italian ruler who possessed a strong arm}", should be 
the protector of such a confederation. Balbo main- 
tained that Austria ought to be excluded from this 
league, but he deprecated the enforcing of such exclu- 
sion by a war ; counting, moreover, on the fall of the 
Ottoman Empire, he imagined that xA.ustria, thus en- 
larging her possessions towards the east, would be 
ready to cede Lombardy and Venetia to Italy. Such 
strikingly moderate proposals were expressed in the 
reasonable hope that the books which contained them 
would meet with no opposition from the governments. 

* 

It was indeed a strange phenomenon that the 
papacy should be acclaimed as a blessing" to Italy 
by writers, who flourished under the pontificate of 
Gregory XVI. — certainl\' not one of the best of 
popes. Originally a monk of _the Camaldoli order 
he had been famous for his intense devotion to 
theological studies, in which he had found a collabo- 



EPISODE OE RIMINI : MASSIMO D AZEGLIO I 27 

rateur in his barber, Gaetano Moroni. The Pontiff 
had, besides, a very pronounced weakness for the 
wine of Orvieto, and left the care of poHtical affairs 
to his secretaries of state — first Cardinal Bernetti, 
afterwards Cardinal Lambruschini. The population 
of the Papal States still lived in the most absolute 
ignorance and miserable squalor ; brigandage de- 
vastated the country districts, and the pontifical 
court actually came to terms with robbers. In short, 
the inhabitants of these provinces paid for the honour 
of being ruled by the successor of ~ St. Peter, by 
exclusion from all the advantages of modern 
civilisation. 

Now came the episode of Rimini. Gregory XVI. 
(1845) had responded to Gioberti's glowing pages by 
persecuting the liberals more furiously than ever. 
Those patriots, however, before rising against the 
pontifical government, felt the need of justifying 
their insurrection in the eyes of Europe and, to this 
end, published a proclamation, drawn up by Luigi 
Carlo Farini, wherein were set forth the just 
reforms demanded for popular grievances^ — a docu- 
ment which proved what headway the moderate 
idea had already made at this period. The insurgents 
occupied the city of Rimini, but retreated before the 
advance of the Swiss troops and withdrew into 
Tuscany. Living there at that time, was Massimo 
D'Azeglio who had not only already acquired a 
reputation as a romancist and landscape-painter, but 
had, in the course of his travels, won the sympathies 
of his fellow-countr)'men by his distinguished 
personal qualities. On seeing these unhappy fugi- 



128 THE FORCE OF PUBLIC OPIXION 

tives, he wrote the famous poHtical bj'ochure^ Gli 
Ultinii Casi Di Roinagna. Whilst deprecating, 
in this tract, all conspiracy and violence, he ex- 
pressed fiery indignation against the papal govern- 
ment and concluded by saying : " No, we must no 
longer plot, but we must openly protest in the full 
light of day, against all the iniquities that have 
been perpetrated." This work found also a deep 
and prolonged echo throughout all Italy. 

Everywhere, in fact, the Italian question was 
discussed, and the moderate writers — that is, those 
who sought to harmonise revolutionary theories with 
existing facts — enjoyed the greatest popularity. 
Among the more notable publications of that time 
is Giacomo Durando's work, Delia Nazionalitct 
Italiana wherein is propounded the theory that Italy 
ought to form two great friendly and confederate 
states — the northern one, under Charles Albert, the 
southern, under the Bourbons — and to allow the 
temporal power, restricted to its narrowest limits, 
to continue in Central Italy. There was no agree- 
ment, it is true, among these writers, as to the new 
order to be set up in the peninsula, but all were at 
one in declaring that Italy could not exist in her 
present state, for all saw it was impossible that such 
a condition of affairs should last. But meantime, 
like the molten lava in the abyss of Etna, the revo- 
lutionary flood was secretly seething in the inmost 
heart of the nation. 



IX 



FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 



Charles Albert, who hitherto had displayed a 
somewhat vacillating ^ policy, owing perhaps to his 
being, as he used to say, between the dagger of the 
Carbonari and the chocolate of the Jesuits, now 
began to manifest the deep hatred which he secretly 
cherished against Austria. The public gladly saw 
Cesare Balbo, author oi th& Speranze DVta/ia, welcomed 
as an intimate friend by the King, and noted with 
satisfaction that several of their monarch's associates 
showed patriotic tendencies. In a conversation held 
with Charles Albert in 1845, Massimo D'Azeglio had 
been commissioned by the King to tell the liberals 
that, when the hour for action arrived, they might 
reckon on the royal support. 

It was an auspicious omen for the constitutionalist 
party when, in 1846, a chance was offered Charles 
Albert of making known his anti-Austrian sentiments 
in a public and official manner, and this through a 
question connected with the customs. Since 1843, 
Piedmont had granted the Canton of Ticino a free 
transit for the salt that its Swiss inhabitants procured 

10 129 



130 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

at Marseilles or at the free port of Genoa. Austria, 
who up till then had supplied this part of Switzerland 
with salt from Venice, resented such an arrangement, 
and maintained that the concession thus made by the 
Piedmontese government was contrary to treaties 
existing between the two nations. Diplomatic notes 
were interchanged in succession by both parties, with 
the usual result of diplomacy — that of passing the time 
without coming to any decision. Finally, Austria, 
piqued by the new attitude of the Sardinian monarch 
towards the liberal movement, adopted a bold coup 
to make him change his tactics and on the 20th of 
April, 1846, without any previous warning to the 
Piedmontese government, redoubled the duties on 
the wine of Piedmont. This blow severely injured 
the commercial interests of the latter which found 
in Lombardy the principal egress for its wine 
exports ; hence, Austria thought that Charles 
Albert would be obliged to submit. But he not 
only indignantly refused to bow to the imperial 
decree, but caused an account of the affair to be 
printed in the Gazzetta Ufficiale Piedmontese of the 
2nd of May, which concluded by asserting that 
Austria, in taking such a step, had committed an 
act of reprisals. 

In view of the servile attitude preserved by the 
other Italian States towards Austria, this fearless 
action on the part of Piedmont appeared nearl}' 
a declaration of war, and evoked great enthusiasm 
among the Turinese. Such a feeling was intensified 
by a current rumour which reported that, during a 
ministerial council, the Count De La Tour had said 




CHARLES ALBERT, KING OF SARDINIA. 



132 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

to the King : " But what will Piedmont do if Austria, 
hitherto friendly to us, should become hostile?" to 
which Charles Albert had answered : " If Piedmont 
loses Austria she will gain Italy, and then Italy will 
be able to manage her own affairs " — words which 
found a sympathetic echo throughout the whole 
community. 

The heads of the liberal party determined to profit 
by this enthusiasm and to organise a demonstration, 
in order to show the King how strongly the country 
desired he should persevere in the new way he had 
struck out. 

Every Thursday, Charles Albert used to be present 
at military manoeuvres in the public square. About 
ten o'clock on the first Thursday morning, imme- 
diately after the publication of the article in the 
Gazsetta (May 7, 1846) an immense crowd as- 
sembled in the Piazzo Castello, before the royal 
palace, with the intention of greeting their monarch's 
appearance by a tremendous ovation. This people 
which, for fifteen years, had shown itself most cold 
and reserved towards its sovereign, now wished 
to fire his soul by its own enthusiasm. Behind 
a window of the palace stood Charles Albert, 
in a general's uniform, watching the throng in the 
square, his eyes shining with joyful anticipation 
at the thought of being hailed with such un- 
accustomed applause. Alas ! for him the hour of 
bold decision had not yet come : his reactionary 
ministers exerted their pressure moreover to prevent 
him yielding to the popular fervour. He was still 
vacillating when De La Tour, anxious, as he said, 



POLITICS IN THE SACRED COLLEGE 1 33 

to save the monarchy, arrived, and represented to 
the King that, as the Austrian ambassador knew 
that during the demonstration cries would be raised 
hostile to Austria, the latter would regard such utter- 
ances as a provocation on the part of Piedmont. 
Intimidated by this warning and fearful of precipi- 
tating matters, Charles Albert decided not to show 
himself to the crowd, so the demonstration was nipped 
in the bud, and the discontented people retired to 
their own homes. 



Dark clouds were now gathering over the penin- 
sula, when a light, that was the harbinger of belter 
days, suddenly shone out of the obscurity and, this 
time, from Rome itself New ideas are like very 
pungent perfumes which filter out, however closely 
they are secreted. Far enough removed from new 
ideas had been the papal court, during the fifteen 
years' pontificate of Gregory XVI. However, no 
sooner was the latter dead (ist of June, 1846), than 
the same faction which was dividing the Italian 
world — conservatives and liberals, the men of the 
past and those of the future — sprang up in the Sacred 
College itself 

The reactionary cardinals had already fixed upon 
their candidate in the person of the Genoese, Lam- 
bruschini, who, as secretary of state, had hitherto 
directed papal politics. During the preceding ten 
years, the other side had had no champion in 
particular, neither had the)' formulated ?a\y definite 
theory of action. The liberal cardinals now con- 



134 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

tented themselves with a general declaration that 
the introduction of state reforms, based on the 
principles of a progressive civilisation, was necessary, 
and the man who appeared to them pre-eminently 
adapted to carry out their ideas, was Cardinal 
Giovanni Mastai Ferretti, of Senigallia. At first, 
however, the party which favoured his election 
appeared much weaker than the opposition, but it 
gained influence through two convictions which 
always powerfully actuate all conclaves — the one 
was that the new Pontiff ought to be of different 
tendencies to his predecessor, the other that he 
ought to be a native of the Roman States. After 
the first polling, some of the partisans of Lambrus- 
chini, seeing the doubtful success of their candi- 
date, determined to support Mastai, because, reckon- 
ing on the latter's yielding disposition, they hoped 
under his regime, to preserve the influence they 
had already acquired ; thus, after only a three 
days' conclave, on the i6th of June, 1846, Giovanni 
Mastai was elected to fill the throne of St. Peter, 
under the title of Pius IX. 

The new Pope was fifty-four years of age and, as 
governor of Imola, had given evidence of a kindly 
and lenient temper. At Imola he had lived on 
friendly terms with Count Giuseppe Pasolini, an 
enthusiastic liberal, and with him had also read 
and approved the Primato of Gioberti, the Speranse 
U Italia of Balbo and the Utiiiii Cast Di Roiiiagna 
of D'Azeglio : indeed it was said that Cardinal 
Mastai, when starting for the conclave, had carried 
these three books with him, as an offering to the 




PIUS IX. 
(From a painting by Metzmach.) 



136 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

new successor to the popedom. His benevolent, 
smiling and open countenance, as well as his affable 
and courteous manners, immediately won all suffrages, 
and such popularity was well deserved, endowed as 
he was with great natural goodness of heart and 
animated by the best intentions. But good inten- 
tions are not a sufficient equipment for the man 
who is at the head of a state, especially at a 
momentous crisis. Successfully to face the condition 
of affairs just then, in the pontifical kingdom and in 
Italy generally, required a mental grasp and strength 
of will to which Pius IX. was quite a stranger, nor 
had he a clear notion of the very complicated 
political situation. 

One of the most insistent and general demands 
that the various cities of the Papal States had 
pressed upon the late conclave by means of petitions, 
was that for an amnesty for political prisoners. A 
progressive step that had been taken throughout all 
Italy, in which the pontifical provinces alone had not 
shared, was the construction of railways. These points 
were the key to the programme which the new Pope 
had traced out, so that in an assembly of diplomatists, 
held during the first days of his new rule, Cardinal 
Ferretti, his cousin and mouthpiece, is reported to 
have said, to the then French ambassador, Pellegrino 
Rossi, " We shall have the amnesty and railways 
and all will be well." 

On the i6th of July, 1846, just a month after his 
election, Pius IX. inaugurated his political career by 
granting a general amnesty to the condemned 
political prisoners. To the minds of Italians already 



GREAT POPULARITY OF PIUS IX. 1 37 

prepared for such ideas by the ' Neo-Guelph ' party 
it suddenly seemed as if Gioberti's ideal pontiff — the 
restorer of Italian liberty and greatness — had arisen. 
The nomination of a body of men commissioned to 
seek for and study the reforms needful in the States 
of the Church, gave some ground for the applause 
which the new Pope evoked ; every time he went 
into the city, he was carried in triumph by a 
rejoicing crowd which, in the cry of " Long live Pius 
IX.," did but express the hopes and aspirations of all 
Italy. Fetes succeeded one another on the smallest 
pretext and the people evinced their delight by con- 
stantly assembling in the public square and giving 
vent to their feelings by processions, shoutings and 
songs. These demonstrations found an enthusiastic 
leader in a citizen, named Angelo Brunetti, popu- 
larly nicknamed ' Ciceruacchio,' who exercised a very 
great ascendency over the Roman mob. At the 
same time, a Sicilian friar. Father Ventura, hymned 
from the pulpit the alliance between the priesthood 
and the democracy. The excitement in the capital 
spread to the country districts ; a new tremor thrilled 
men's hearts and minds, like that by which all 
nature is stirred when the sun appears on the 
horizon. 

Pius IX. delightedly surrendered himself to the 
sweets of popularity, but he was heard to observe that 
the people daily proffered some new request, and by 
degrees, the populace, rather than he, took the 
initiative in reforms. The liberty of the press, for 
instance, was usurped rather than conceded : from 
the January of 1H47, political papers began to appear 



138 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

in Rome and Bologna — the two chief cities in the 
Papal States — and following closely on these, were 
founded clubs which instigated and regulated public 
demonstrations. 

Whilst the routes for railway lines were being 
studied, the Pope, in April, 1847, announced the 
formation of a ' Council of State,' with a deliberate 
vote on taxation ; it was to be composed of four-and- 
twenty lay councillors chosen by the Pontiff out of 
ternes or lists of three persons, presented by the pro- 
vincial assemblies. This was a great step in advance, 
since, up till then, the laity had taken no part in 
state administration ; indeed, Pius IX. probably 
thought, by this means, that he had now achieved 
the maximum of reforms. 

* 

The popularity of the new Pontiff was soon general 
throughout the peninsula ; every one declared that a 
new era was dawning for Italy. But this movement 
which seemed to have originated in Rome, had, in 
reality, its roots in the conscience of the nation ; it 
was the voice of all Italy that now surged like the 
noise of the long pent-up waters of a mighty river 
which has burst its dams. 

The first province to feel the effects of this 
upheaval was Tuscany. There it found chief ex- 
pression in public demonstrations in the Pope's 
honour ; then the passing of the great English 
economist, Richard Cobdcn, through Florence, was 
made a pretext for ostentatiously acclaiming the 
liberal principles he represented. Taking advantage 




LEOPOLD II. 
(Grand Duke of Tuscany.) 



140 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

of the leniency of the existing government, the advo- 
cates of the new ideas actually ventured on openly 
inviting the Grand Duke to follow the example of 
the Pope. Leopold II., weary of these ceaseless 
importunities and disgusted by the clandestine 
circulations of the press, decided, in the May of 
1847, to promulgate a new and more comprehensive 
law in relation to the censorship-^a concession 
that was the signal for the immediate appearance 
of important journalistic publications at Florence, 
Pisa and Leghorn. In Tuscany, by reason of the 
country's superior standard of culture and the exist- 
ence of a more numerous bourgeoisie, journalism 
flourished much more than in Rome and rallied to 
its ranks the distinguished talents of such eminent 
men as the Sicilian, Giuseppe La Farina, the 
Tuscans, Atto Vannucci, Bettino Ricasoli, Vincenzo 
Salvagnoli, Giuseppe Montanelli, Domenico Guer- 
razzi, Mazzoni, Centofanti, Giorgini and many others. 
Spurred on by the press, the Tuscan government 
was rapidly impelled to introduce important judicial 
and administrative reforms. 

Charles Albert in the meantime had been, so far, 
checked in his patriotic propensities by the fear of 
ecclesiastical censure ; now he saw the Head of the 
Church outstripping him on the path of liberalism. 
Hence, he found in these same religious sentiments 
— which up till then had been regarded as obstacles 
in his course — a stimulus to pursue without hesi- 
tation that road wherein he had already taken some 
few and uncertain steps. However, in this revival of 
new life in Ital)', lie sought to divert the attention of 



SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS AT GENOA I4I 

his subjects from questions relating to political free- 
dom, in order to turn and concentrate the whole 
force of public opinion against Austria. 

In September, 1846, the eighth Scientific Congress 
was held at Genoa. In those days, when the excite- 
ment had mastered every one, this assembly aroused 
the keenest interest ; all the most learned men of the 
peninsula hastened to take part in it and indeed it was 
rightly called by Balbo " the first Italian parliament." 
Politics were discussed rather than science, and vent 
was given to earnest patriotic aspirations. The 
political question was all the more opportunely raised 
by the speakers, inasmuch as just a century had 
elapsed since the Genoese had revolted and driven 
the Austrians from the city. The members of the 
Congress paid a visit to the place where the insurrec- 
tion had first broken out, and the Genoese citizens 
were inspired to keep a solemn celebration of the 
anniversary of the expulsion of the Austrians. This 
demonstration took place on the 5th of December 
and had a vociferous success, but strangely enough, 
on this occasion, the Piedmontese police seemed to 
have become suddenly afflicted with deafness. 



By the delirium of this fever which had attacked 
Italy, could be gauged the intensity of Italian hatred 
against Austria, and its development much alarmed 
Prince Metternich. The latter who declared a 
liberal pope to be an impossibilit\', made strenuous 
endeavours to check the pontifical court in its new 
career of reform, and gave hints to the governments 



142 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

of Florence and Turin to the same effect. However, 
the Austrian minister, seeing that the Grand Duke 
had unreservedly submitted to the guidance of the 
people's will and that his own friendly exhortations 
were unheeded both at Turin and Rome, had recourse 
to a bold threat. By the treaties of 1815, a body of 
Austrian troops had been quartered in the citadel of 
Ferrara— in papal territory ; now, in the August of 
1847, these troops, fully equipped for war, occupied 
the whole of the city. 

Against this abuse of power, which aroused a 
torrent of indignation throughout the country, Pius IX. 
was urged by public opinion to an energetic protest, 
wherein he was supported by Charles Albert who was 
only too glad to find in the Pope an ally against their 
common oppressor. The effect of the Austrian policy 
on the Italian population was that of the lash on a 
restive horse, that is to say, the people became more 
intractable than ever. The excitement was simply 
indescribable ; the Pope himself was expected to pro- 
claim a holy war and to utter the cry of Julius II.: 
"Away with the barbarians ! " The civic guard which 
had already been peremptorily demanded by the 
Roman and Tuscan press, was immediately organised 
in both states. The university students, only just 
home for the vacation, spread the patriotic contagion 
throughout the most remote country places. Long- 
standing feuds were made up between families and 
districts ; on all sides was felt the need of forging a 
chain of brotherly lo\'e to bind men in a common 
cause, and everywhere were celebrated the fetes of 
federation. 



PATRIOTIC SENTIMEXTS OF CHARLES ALBERT I43 

Charles Albert now resolved on giving more decisive 
expression to his sentiments. Early in September, 
1847, an Agrarian Congress was held at Casale 
where such bold political speeches were made that 
the Piedmontese police feigned not to hear them. 
The last session of this assembly was marked by a 
memorable occurrence : the Count Di Castagneto, an 
intimate friend of Charles Albert, rose and read a 
letter that he had just received from the King, which 
ran as follows : " If ever God allows us to proclaim a 
war of independence, it is I alone who will take com- 
mand of the army, and I have resolved to do in the 
Guelph cause that which Schamyl is doing against the 
great Russian Empire . . . Ah ! what a blessed day 
will that be when we can raise the cry of national 
independence ! " Thus did Charles Albert at last 
open his heart and mark out his life-programme. 
The enthusiastic acclamations of members of the 
Casale Congress understood it as well as all the 
inhabitants of Piedmont who, on the occasion of the 
the King going to lay the first stone of a bridge over 
the Bormida, near Acqui, flocked around the monarch 
and greeted him with an extraordinary ovation. 

But at Genoa the demonstrations did not end in 
mere applause ; rather were substantial hopes raised, 
although Turin still kept silent. It is true the capital 
also had warmly welcomed the patriotic words of the 
King, but now it wanted something more and looked 
for the latter to inaugurate such reforms as those 
already adopted by Pius IX. and the Grand Duke 
of Tuscan}'. Success was hoped for b)' adopting 
tlie means used by the Romans and Florentines 



144 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

to put pressure on their rulers — that is, popular 
demonstrations. On the evening of October i, 1847, 
the eve of the King's birthday, a large crowd gathered 
in the Ripari promenade to sing the hymn of Pius 
IX., cry " God save the King ! " and call for reforms, 
but they were suddenly interrupted by a body of 
guards and carabineers who attacked the mob and 
arrested the ringleaders. 

It was a miserable surprise for the whole com- 
munity. Had the King then repented of his liberal 
tendencies, and was he going back from his promised 
line of action ? Was he indeed // Re Tentenna 
('King Waverer'), as the young poet, Domenico 
Carbone, dubbed him, in some verses written on that 
very October night ? This little poem had immediate 
popularity and was a jesting comment on the per- 
petual inconsistency evident in Charles Albert's 
conduct — an inconsistency which led him to retain 
at the same time Count Solaro Delia Margherita, the 
most distinguished champion of reactionary ideas in 
Piedmont, as his minister for Foreign Affairs, and 
the Marquis Di Villamarina, who was credited with 
being a liberal, as his minister of War. Charles 
Albert, too, read this unflattering effusion, and 
perhaps it inspired him to act with decision. 

Diplomacy, as well as popular manifestations, 
tended to free the King from vacillation. At 
this juncture. Lord Minto, ostensibly travelling in 
Italy for amusement, but in reality as a secret emis- 
sary of the English government, arrived in Turin. 
He frankly counselled the Piedmontese monarch to 
have done with delays, to concede important reforms 



ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION OF REFORMS I45 

and to get rid of his reactionary advisers. A few days 
afterwards, Charles x'Vlbert dismissed both Delia 
Margherita and Villamarina, and caused a scheme 
of reforms to be drawn up, which appeared in the 
Gazzetta Ufficiale of the 30th of October. 

Whoever to-day chances to read those four 
closely printed columns can hardly understand 
what an immense outburst of joy they called forth 
from the Piedmontese. They were, in fact, restricted 
enough innovations ; the free election of com_munal 
and provincial councillors was decreed ; the police- 
regulations and the administration of justice were 
improved and a limit was imposed on the censorship 
of the press. But, compared with the absolutism of 
the past, they represented a forward step in liberalism ; 
besides, the bulk of the people had regarded the con- 
cession of reforms in itself as a universal panacea. 
Now they had the satisfaction of their desires, they 
looked for the inauguration of that golden age 
of which they had dreamed so long. To greet the 
auspicious event came an influx of illuminations, 
music, banners, Te Deunis, inscriptions and the in- 
evitable sonnets, songs and hymns. A few days later, 
when Charles Albert left Turin to stay a month, as 
was his custom, at Genoa, he was hailed throughout 
his journey by enthusiastic ovations, and even the 
Genoese who had always resented the domination 
of Piedmont and seemed to hanker after their ancient 
republic, awarded him a triumphal reception. 



Very differently did things progress in the kingdom 
II 



146 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

of Naples. The election of Pius IX. had there, as 
elsewhere in Italy, awakened earnest hopes and 
aspirations, but King Ferdinand II. suddenly opposed 
the new tendencies, and made his subjects understand 
that he did not mean to bow down to the idol of the 
hour. Then the impatient and furious imprecations 
of the bourgeoisie found vent in an anonymous publi- 
cation of which the police, luckily, failed to discover 
the author — Luigi Settembrini. In that tract, en- 
titled Protesta Del Popolo Delle Due Sicilie, the shame- 
less existing regime was thus set forth : " This 
government is an immense pyramid whose base is 
composed of police-agents and priests and whose 
apex is the King. Every employe, from the soldier 
to the general, from the gendarme to the minister of 
police, from the priest to the King's confessor, every 
petty clerk even, is a cruel despot and worse, over 
his inferiors, and a mean sycophant towards his 
superiors. Whence it happens that whosoever is not 
among the oppressors feels himself crushed on all 
sides by the vile tyranny of countless knaves, and the 
peace of mind, freedom and possessions of honest men 
are made to depend on the caprice — I will not even say 
of a prince or a minister — but of every subordinate 
official, of a courtesan, of a spy, or of a Jesuit. Oh, 
my brothers and compatriots, deem not this language 
is too strong ; do not assert in the press that we 
ought to speak with more prudence and moderation, 
but come amongst us and feel as we feel this wrong 
that, like a red-hot iron, .sears and eats into our 
hearts ; sympathise with our sufferings and write and 
advise us." Numerous enough were such anon}'mous 



REVOLT AT REGGIO AND MESSINA SUPPRESSED I47 

protests against the existing order of things, but all 
voiced the widespread tendency towards revolution and 
it was felt that the suppression of such long-endured 
wrongs could only be accomplished by violent means. 
On the 1st of September, 1847, the revolt broke 
out simultaneously at Reggio and Messina. At the 
latter place, towards evening, about fifty resolute, 
daring spirits raised the cry of " Italy, Pius IX., and 
the Constitution for ever ! " and determined on sur- 
prising the officials — assembled at a banquet — but the 
latter had already taken refuge in the citadel. The 
troops pursued through the streets the handful of 
insurgents who, after a desperate resistance, dispersed, 
and sought safety in flight. At Reggio di Calabria, 
victory had favoured the rebels from the outset. 
Headed by Domenico Romeo, they obliged the fortress 
to surrender and formed a provisional government, but 
soon came the discouraging news of the unsuccessful 
movement at Messina. Then two royal vessels from 
Naples appeared on the scene, bombarded the city and 
disembarked soldiers. The revolutionists were obliged 
to abandon Reggio and take refuge in the mountains 
of Aspromonte where they persisted in the struggle 
for nearly a month, but, having been tracked to 
their last remaining defences, the majority were 
arrested. Domenico Romeo being wounded, had 
sheltered himself in a straw-rick, but was dislodged 
and killed. Thus these revolts had no other result 
than the initiation of fresh and fiercer persecutions, 
such as the Neapolitan princes of the House of 
Bourbon knew too well how to plan, and their agents, 
to carry out. 



148 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

Meantime, the reforms granted by the Grand 
Duke of Tuscany and Charles Albert were but 
feeding the flame already kindled in men's minds, 
and in November demonstrations took place at 
Naples and Palermo. In the following month, the 
most distinguished Piedmontese and Romagnol 
liberals thought of addressing a petition to Ferdi- 
nand II. to induce him to pursue the policy of 
Pius IX., Leopold II. and Charles Albert. The 
demands of such signatories would to-day be re- 
garded as anything but exacting, but at least they 
showed to the world that Italy had recourse to the 
moderate policy of persuasion before resorting to 
that of violence. Ferdinand II. must indeed have 
smiled with contempt at this document, so little 
calculated to appeal to him, but to quench effectually 
all further agitation, he forbade the cry " Long live 
Pius the Ninth ! " to be raised in his dominions, 
for this magic watchword which not only repre- 
sented, but was a factor in developing the future, 
was naturally considered seditious in all places where 
the regime of the past was to be preserved intact. 

* 
* * 

At Modena, Francis IV., the betrayer of Ciro 
Menotti, had been dead since January, 1846, but the 
wretched government of this duchy was hardly 
ameliorated under his son and successor, Francis V. 
At the first demonstrations in the Pope's favour, the 
ducal troops used arms against the crowd, and 
Francis V. made known to his subjects that if his 
bullies were not enough to keep the liberals in 



PARMA AND LOMBARDO-VEXP.TIAN AFFAIRS I4g 

check, he had beyond the Po an entire army at his 
beck and call. In fact, shortly afterwards, at the 
Duke's own request, Austrian soldiers entered his 
states in order to prevent any manifestations of 
liberalism. 

Much the same deplorable condition of affairs pre- 
vailed in Parma and Piacenza. Advancing age had 
impressed Maria Louise, Napoleon's widow, with the 
necessity of doing penance for her many sins ; she 
therefore allowed friars and priests to hold unlimited 
sway in the dukedom. On her death in December, 
1847, her successor, Charles Ludovic of^ Bourbon, 
already Duke of Lucca, immediately invited a 
body of Austrian troops to enter his territory, in order 
clearly to show his subjects his intentions. 

As to the Lombardo- Venetian States, Austria had 
set herself to 'germanise' them in vain. There two 
elements existed which could never amalgamate, in 
the Austrian oppressors and the Italian oppressed 
and, by degrees, the latter allowed their bitter feelings 
to find vent. At Milan the most complete repre- 
sentative of this epoch was Cesare Correnti, whilst 
the heart and soul of all patriotic aspirations in 
Venice was Daniele Manin. 

The enthusiasm for Pius IX. had naturally obtained 
also in the Austrian subject-provinces who seized 
every possible occasion of making pacific protests 
against the foreign yoke, in the expectancy that new 
developments would admit of a more strenuous line 
of action. The first Milanese demonstration of the 
kind took place on the occasion of the funeral of 
Count Federico Confalonieri, who had died in a Swiss 



150 FROM REFORMS TO REJ'OLUTION 

village, December lo, 1846, eight years after his 
release from Spielberg. In 1847, the ninth scientific 
congress was held at Venice, and Daniele Manin 
profited by the occasion to fan the flame of indepen- 
dence throughout Venetia and to strengthen the ties 
which bound her to the other provinces. On the 5th of 
September of the same year, the new archbishop of 
Milan, Count Romilli, made his solemn entry into the 
city. An Italian by birth, he had succeeded the 
Austrian prelate, Gaisruch, and had been nominated 
by Pius IX. — a fact which sufficed to make his recep- 
tion the occasion for great y^V^j- and popular rejoicings. 
Three days later, on the festival of Madonna, the illu- 
minations were repeated amid the renewed enthusiasm 
of the populace and frequent cries of " Long live 
Pius the Ninth ! " but, at a given signal, pre-instructed 
gendaruies attacked the crowd with drawn sabres and 
dealt blows among them, by which one person was 
killed and several wounded. This tyrannous action 
of the authorities and the police helped much to 
unite all classes of society in closer bonds of 
sympathy, so that now against Austria there was a 
universally agreed enmit}-. 

The Austrian government had caused two Central 
Congregations to be formed, one for Lombardy and 
the other for Venice, empowered to present petitions 
to the administration. Nx)w in December, 1847, 
Councillor Nazzari, a native of Bergamo, preferred a 
request to the Lombardy Congregation, urging the 
nomination of a commission for drawing up a report 
on the condition of the country and the causes of 
popular discontent, and this proposal was approved 



POLITICAL parties: REVOLT IN SICILY I5I 

by the Congregation. No sooner had Daniele Manin 
procured a copy than he caused it to be printed and 
circulated in the province of Venetia, and himself 
presented an analogous one to the Venetian Central 
Congregation. At the same time, the distinguished 
litterateur, Niccolo Tommaseo, made a speech at the 
Ateneo of Venice, expressing the wish for a more 
comprehensive legislation on the censorship. Con- 
fronted by these agitations which continually in- 
creased, the Austrian governor redoubled his vigilance 
and severity. 

In a word, Italy, at the beginning of 1848, seemed 
divided into two parties who were proceeding on widely 
diverse methods. In the Pontifical States, Tuscany 
and Piedmont, the carrying out of reforms was 
accompanied by festivals, demonstrations and popular 
rejoicings — nay, it became possible to initiate a 
customs league between these three states which was 
in itself the first step towards a political federation. 
But in the kingdom of Naples, the Lombardo- 
Venetian States and the duchies of Modena and 
Parma, the most severe reactionary policy was 
maintained. It can thus be easily understood how 
these provinces would form the hot-bed of the revo- 
lution. 



Singularly enough the first shock of revolt pro- 
ceeded from the volcanic soil of Sicily. In the 
beginning of January, 1848, a bold proclamation was 
posted up at all the street-corners and public places 
in Palermo, asserting that the time for entreaties and 



152 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

pacific demonstrations was at an end and embodying 
an invitation to all Sicilians to arm on the 12th of 
January, the birthday of the 'King of the Two Sicilies.' 
This manifesto was, needless to say, anonymous ; 
only after the outbreak of the revolution, was it known 
to be the work of a young sculptor, Francesco 
Bagnasco. 

At first the police derided the movement as mere 
brag. However, on the night of the 9-ioth of 
January, they adopted the precaution of arresting 
eleven of the most prominent liberals, including 
Francesco Perez, Gabriele and Emerico Amari and 
Francesco Ferrara. The military also took what 
they deemed necessary measures in the matter. 
It is wonderful that it should have been possible 
not only for the rising to break out, but for it to 
become irrepressible and end in victory, after so 
much careful prevision on the part of the govern- 
ment, whilst there was hardly any serious prepara- 
tion on the side of the revolutionists who reckoned 
chiefly on the prevailing state of feeling and on 
what chance, which so often develops isolated emeutes 
into gigantic revolutions, held in store. Besides, 
it was under just such conditions, without any pre- 
conceived plan, that the famous revolt of the Sicilian 
Vespers had taken place, as indeed the distinguished 
historian, Michele Amari, in writing of that period — 
proving the legend of Giovanni Da Procida to be 
groundless — has very justly pointed out. When 
revolution germinates in the conscience of the people, 
it breaks forth spontaneously. 

No one, however, would ha\c ho))ed ft)r such a 




RUGGERO SETTIMO. 



154 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

result on that January morning. The citizens 
thronged the public ways ; the police had verified 
their precautions, but vainly sought for the expected 
armed bands and the heads of the revolutionary 
movement. The anxiety was painfully intense, but 
about eight a.m., a young man, who had gone out 
alone, but furnished with weapons, into one of the 
most frequented thoroughfares of Palermo, called out 
' Treason ! ' and nearly desperate, discharged his 
musket into the air. Then the most courageous 
citizens poured, ready armed, into the streets, whilst 
others began to ring the bells as a signal for the 
fighting to begin. The Bourbon military commanders 
did not dare let the troops out of the fortresses 
and barracks, and decided to restrict themselves to 
defensive action. During the night, other revolu- 
tionary bands came in from the country districts and 
neighbouring communes to the aid of the insurgents. 
The Neapolitan troops bombarded the city from the 
forts ; the citizens, in their turn, attacked and con- 
quered several barracks, then, inspirited by success, 
organised a provisional government under the presi- 
dency of the venerable admiral, Ruggero Settimo. 

The fighting was prolonged throughout the follow- 
ing days, and with ever-growing victory for the revo- 
lutionists whose ranks were hourly strengthened. 
Neither the men-of-war sent from Naples nor the 
continued bombardment from the fortresses could 
subdue Palermo. Hence, after a fortnight's sanguinary 
struggle, the Bourbon soldiers were compelled to 
abandon the city. The other Sicilian towns now 
ff)llowed the example of Palermo so that at the 



REFORAfS DEMANDED IN NAPLES AND PIEDMONT I 55 

begiiininc; (if February, the whole island, with the 
exception of a few strongholds, had shaken off the 
yoke of despotism. 

Encouraged by the news from Sicily, Naples now 
began to move ; a petition for the concession of a 
constitution, drawn up by Ruggero Bonghi, was 
circulated among the Neapolitans, and on the 27th 
of January, in spite of all police precautions, a great 
demonstration boldly perambulated the city thorough- 
fares. Then Ferdinand II., seeing his crown in danger, 
pretended to grant of his own free will that which he 
dared not refuse any longer and promised his subjects 
the desired constitution (January 28th). 

The vicissitudes of Southern Italy precipitated 
matters in the other Italian provinces, notably in 
Piedmont, where early in January, new and more 
explicit demands had been urged at the palace. 
Gioberti had, by this time, published his scathing 
book entitled // Gesnita Moderno and his words 
immediately found an echo in the hearts of all Italian 
liberals. Indeed, there was a universal desire for the 
expulsion of the Jesuits and their affiliated religious 
houses — in particular, that community of the ' Ladies 
of the Sacred Heart,' whose members the Tuscans 
used playfully to call the 'Jesuit swallows.' At 
Genoa, a public petition was set on foot to implore 
Charles Albert to expel the Order and to allow the 
institution of a civic guard, such as had already been 
doing duty, for some months past, in Tuscany and 
Rome : to this end, a commission was sent to prefer 



156 FROM REFORMS TO REVOTJJTION 

these requests to the King. Then the Turhiese 
journahsts convened a meeting to consider a means 
of backing up the Genoese claims. The splendid roll 
of names which distinguished that assembly of 
January 7, 1848, included those of Camillo Cavour, 
Michelangelo Castelli, Pietro Derossi Di Santarosa, 
Carlo Boncompagni, Ercole Ricotti, Lorenzo Valerio, 
Riccardo Sineo, Angelo Brofferio, Giacomo Durando, 
Predari, Montezemolo, Galvagno and Cornero. 
Whilst the majority of those present only spoke of 
expressing their solidarity with the Genoese com- 
mission, the editor of the Risorgimento openly declared 
that henceforth something more must be asked for 
and that was — the constitution. 

This bold proposal which demonstrated its author's 
profound knowledge of the serious condition of exis- 
ting affairs, emanated from a man of thirty-eight 
years of age, belonging to the ancient aristocracy of 
Piedmont, who, in his )'outh, had been a sub-lieutenant 
in the corps of engineers and, after his resignation 
of that post, had travelled in France and England 
and was now devoted to journalistic pursuits — no 
other, in fact, than Count Camillo Benso Di Cavour. 
Among his hearers were men who, either, through 
instinct, education or by their position in journalism, 
were of pronounced liberal tendencies, but they looked 
at one another in amazement at hearing this propo- 
sition. A few indeed offered objections, and the 
assembly was prorogued till the following evening. 

Meantime, an important event had happened : the 
King had refused to receive the Genoese deputation. 
But none the less, the journalists who had approved of 



CHARLES ALBERT GRANTS THE STATUTE 1 57 

Cavour's idea, adhered to their resolution and, at the 
second meeting, signed a memorial to this intent, 
which the Marquis Roberto D'Azeglio, an elder 
brother of Massimo and an equally conspicuous 
champion of liberalism, undertook to present to the 
King in person. Charles Albert read the document 
and pondered its candid yet loyal tenor, but replied 
that, for the liberation of Italy, soldiers, not lawyers, 
were needful and that, in the interests of Italian 
independence which he now had most nearly at heart, 
he would never grant a constitution. 

But at this juncture came the news of the revolt 
at Palermo on the 12th of January, then that of the 
King of Naples' promised constitution. Whereupon, 
great demonstrations were held at Turin, and on the 
5th of February, the municipality itself, instigated by 
Pietro Derossi Di Santarosa, the -tried friend of Cavour, 
deliberated on asking the King for a constitution. 
Meanwhile, Charles Albert, after having confessed and 
communicated, unburdened his mind to Monsignor 
D'Angennes, Archbishop of Vercelli. This ecclesi- 
astic who was a very holy man, overcame the religious 
scruples of the monarch, and on the 8th of February, 
1848, Charles Albert promised the Statute and fixed 
its main lines. From the 8th of February till the 4tli 
of March, the day on which the Statute was promul- 
gated, there was little else in Piedmont but a con- 
tinual succession of fervent demonstrations in the 
King's favour. And richly did Charles Albert merit 
his people's affection, because, unlike the other princes 
who promised with mental reservations, he, liaviiig 
once conquered his wavering tendency and set his 



158 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION 

foot upon the path of constitutionalism, pursued it 
thenceforward with the utmost loyalty to the end. 



It was a strange game of battledore and shuttle- 
cock to which public opinion in Italy abandoned 
itself in the first months of 1848. The news from 
Naples and Piedmont called forth imposing demon- 
strations in Tuscany, and the Florentine munici- 
pality, at that time presided over by Bettino RicasoH, 
immediately decreed a laudatory address to Charles 
Albert. All the most eminent Tuscan liberals now 
insisted on the Grand Duke granting a constitution, 
and this, on the nth of February, Leopold II. pro- 
mised to do. 

Henceforth, Rome, who had given the first impetus 
to this movement, found herself quickly outstripped 
by the other states. Pius IX. was very far from 
being the ideal pontiff that the Italians had imagined. 
He had simply wished to better the condition of his 
subjects and had never dreamed of becoming the 
herald of a revolution, and now that he saw the 
progress affairs were making, he would have gladly 
turned back, but he was irresistibly drawn on by 
the very stream he had himself set free. The people 
who had become aware of their ruler's vacillation, 
affected to cast the blame on his entourage and the 
Jesuits, and now cried, " Long live Pius IX. only!" 
On the 1st of January, 1848, a great crowd assembled 
at the Quirinal where the Pope then resided, in order 
to give him a new year's greeting, but finding the 
gates barricaded and the palace surrounded b\' guards. 



FIRST LAY-MINISTRY IN PAPAL STATES 



159 



they were not slow to vent their ill-humour. On 
the morrow, Pius IX. appeared in the city once more, 
for the purpose of appeasing this mistrust, and met 
with a most enthusiastic reception. 

The 1 2th of February saw the formation of the 
first la}'-ministry in the Papal States. Nor did this 
suffice ; in these provinces also the idea of a consti- 
tution liad taken root, and the communal council of 
Bologna went so far as to demand the concession 
openly. To fix the limitations between ecclesiastical 
and secular affairs was certainly a matter of diffi- 
culty, but all considerations, debates and delays 
thereon were suddenly cut short by the news of the 
outbreak of the Paris revolution which had at one 
blow, despoiled Louis Philippe of his throne. So 
it was that on the 14th of March, 1848, Pius IX. 
granted a constitution to his subjects. 

Thus all Italy, except the territory ruled by Austria, 
now found herself on the way to freedom.^ 

' For the Statute of Charles Albert, see Appendix. 




X 



THE WAR OF 1848 



The inhabitants of the Lnmbardo-Venetian States 
intended keeping the new year with demonstrations 
of their own ; on the ist of January, 1848, all citizens 
were invited to abstain from smoking and thus to 
damage the interests of the Austrian government 
which possessed a tobacco monopoly. The warm 
response which this invitation met with at Milan pro- 
voked the unbounded wrath of the Austrian police ; 
on the 2nd of January, their disguised agents paraded 
the streets with lighted cigars, blowing mouthfuls of 
smoke in the faces of the passers-by and otherwise 
annoying them. Such proceedings were naturally 
resented by the Milanese and led to disputes and 
arrests. But the affair assumed a far more serious 
aspect on the morrow, when brandy and cigars 
were liberally distributed to the soldiers who were 
then despatched through the public thoroughfares, 
with orders to enforce smoking among the citizens 
by threats and, if necessary, by use of arms. The 
evening of the 3rd of January was a terrible one in 
Milan : quarrels had been fomented in ever}^ quarter 



AUSTRIA AND LOMBARDO-VEXETIAN STATES l6l 

of the city by drunken soldiers and, as if this were 
not enough, mounted troops continually galloped to 
and fro, trampling on the fallen and prodding with 
lances all those who did not take to flight — slaughter- 
ing in this way no less than fifty-nine persons. 

Whilst all Italy stood aghast at the news of such 
a massacre, the /\ustrian government boldly pursued 
its way and initiated similar scenes of bloodshed at 
Pavia and Padua, refused to nominate the commis- 
sions demanded by the Lombard and Venetian Con- 
gregations and, at Venice, effected the arrest of 
Daniele Manin and Niccolo Tommaseo, thus adding 
fresh fuel to the flame of popular indignation. To 
increase the ferment, came sundry startling pieces of 
news — first that of the Sicilian revolt, then that of the 
constitution granted by Ferdinand II. and the Statute 
of Charles Albert. Hereupon Austria, proceeding 
to extremities, proclaimed a state of siege in the 
Lombardo- Venetian States and set up sanguinary 
tribunals, by which the authorities could condemn 
without appeal and inflict the death-penalty on their 
own responsibility. The citizens, on their part, pre- 
pared for revolution by collecting money and arms 
and by establishing closer connections with Charles 
Albert and the Piedmontese liberals. It can indeed 
be said that in Lombardy and Venetia, governors 
and governed stood confronting each other, as 
enemies awaiting the signal for the fray. 

The French revolution precipitated matters ; its 
vibrations awoke faith in the irresistible force of the 
barricade, and struck a responsive chord in all Italian 
hearts which were electrified by the brilliant victor)- 

12 



1 62 THE WAR OF 1 848 

gained in Paris. But the decisive blow which 
hurried on the revolt came whence it was least 
expected. Vienna itself, that rock of absolutism, 
had not been able to escape the revolutionary throes 
which were convulsing all Europe; on the 13th of 
March, the Viennese populace rose and demanded the 
constitution, and Prince Metternich was obliged to 
take flight. 

By the 17th of March, the news of this revolution 
had reached Venice where it produced a remarkable 
outburst of enthusiasm : the people repaired en masse 
to the piazza of St. Mark, loudly clamouring for the 
liberation of the political prisoners, especially of 
Manin and Tommaseo, then, without waiting for the 
authorities' answer, rushed to the prisons and trium- 
phantly released the two patriots. On the morrow 
feeling had risen still higher, tricoloured banners 
were raised amid the loud ringing of tocsins, and 
the struggle was actually about to break out between 
the soldiers and the crowd when the municipality, 
to prevent bloodshed, begged permission from the 
government representatives to organise a civic 
guard. To this request, Palffy, the civil governor, 
and Zichy, the military commandant, consented. 
Meantime, it was made known that the Emperor had 
granted a constitution in Vienna, the announcement 
of which Palffy himself read to the crowd from the 
balcony of his palace, declaring, at the same time, his 
satisfaction at being the first constitutional governor 
of Venice. Thereupon the tumult was appeased and 
the city resumed its wonted aspect; it seemed indeed 
as if all fear of disturbance was at an end. 



REVOLT IN MILAN 1 63 

Affairs were taking a very different turn in Milan. 
On hearing of the Viennese revolution, a nucleus of 
patriots had, on the afternoon of the 1 8th of March, 
combined to form a municipal deputation which, fol- 
lowed by a great crowd, proceeded to the governor's 
palace to beg for urgent reforms. The Viceroy, 
Reinier, had fled, but O'Donnell, the vice-president, 
signed, in the presence of the enraged mob, the desired 
decrees, by which the civic guard was to be formed 
and the municipality commissioned with providing 
for the public safety. However, whilst this deputa- 
tion was returning to the municipal palace, a volley 
from a troop of soldiers killed one of the crowd, and 
the sight of blood was the signal for the outbreak of 
the already hatched revolt which now spread through- 
out the length and breadth of the city. Barricades 
were everywhere erected — to the number, it is said, 
of five hundred and twenty-three — tables, chairs, 
vehicles, even the very paving-stones of the streets, 
were utilised for the defence ; all had recourse to 
arms, and one idea only possessed Milan — and that 
was the expulsion of the Austrians. 

It is impossible to describe that feverish contest, 
maintained simultaneously in every quarter of the city 
during those ever-memorable days ; it may truly be 
said that every street had its own heroic episode, as 
every house had its own hero. Youths, old men and 
children, all did their share : women encouraged the 
combatants and succoured the wounded ; the clergy, 
too, took their part in the struggle. With the rattle 
of the musketry and the thunder of the artillery 
mingled the incessant tolling of the bells which, for 



l64 THE WAR OF 1 848' 

five days and five nights in succession, clanged 
threateningly over the heads of the enemy, as if 
voicing the popular fury. 

On the 20th of March, Radetzky, the Austrian 
general in command, proposed an armistice which 
was refused ; on the 2 ist, his troops were expelled from 
all their posts within the city, but the fortress and walls 
were still in their hands ; on the 22nd, it was decided 
to break through the enemy's cordon in order to 
establish communication with the country districts 
and the other revolted cities. To this end, the com- 
batants engaged at Porta Tosa — now called Porta 
Vittoria. The fighting was prolonged and desperate, 
but when the young Luciano Manara set fire to the 
gate, Milan had won her freedom. From the highest 
spire of the cathedral floated the Italian tricolour, 
and it was now that the great poet, Alessandro 
Manzoni, flushed with the enthusiasm of the hour, 
added this final strophe to his ode, Marso, 1821 : — 

" O giornate del nostra riscatto ! 
O dolente per sempre colui, 
Che da lunge, dal labbro d'altrui, 
Come un uomo straniera le udra ! 
Che ai suoi figli narrandole un giorno 
Dovra dir sospirando ; ' io non c'era,' 
Che la santa, I'invitta bandieia 
Salutata in quel di non avra." 

(O day of Italians glory ! 
Unhappy for aye is the brother 
Who e'en from the lips of another, 
As an alien, lists to that tale ; 
Who, telling his sons the glad story, 
Shall say, with a sigh, " not for me, 
Alas ! 'mongst that cohort to be, 
Who saw the blest standard prevail.") 



VICTORY OF MILANESE: PROGRESS OF REVOLUTION IG5 

Who can express the joy that , was experienced 
on that memorable day by the citizens of Milan at 
expelling from their midst an army of fourteen 
thousand well-armed and thoroughly-disciplined 
men ? And theirs was a glorious and untarnished 
triumph, for whilst the Austrians had been guilty 
of much barbarity, their foes, on the contrary, had 
behaved with the utmost generosity — a fact that one 
episode alone will prove. On the 20th of March, 
when the struggle was raging most fiercely, Count 
Bolza, head of the police, was hiding in an attic. 
Well must he have recalled how, many years before, 
he had arrested Count Confalonieri under almost 
identical circumstances : at any rate, the people who 
hated this contemptible satellite of Austria, were not 
slow to remember the fact and forthwith arrested 
him. The unhappy man believed his hour had come, 
but Carlo Cattaneo, a distinguished Milanese, being 
consulted by the crowd as to their victim's fate, 
answered : " If you kill him, you will do a just act ; 
if you spare him, you will do a holy one " — a 
recommendation to mercy which prevailed with the 
mob. 

Meantime, the revolution did not stop at Milan, but 
quickly spread throughout Lombardy, so that the 
Austrian troops, threatened on all sides, had to 
abandon their positions and fall back on the Mincio. 

At Venice, after two days of tranquillity, it was 
suspected that the governor had been profuse in 
fair speeches to gain time to prepare for the city's 
bombardment— a suspicion which was further inflamed 
by the news of the insurrection at Milan. Now 



1 66 THE WAR OF 1 848 

began a new hneiite in which the commandant of the 
arsenal, Marinovich, unpopular with the workmen on 
account of his severity, was killed. Daniele Manin, 
followed by a numerous crowd, repaired to the 
arsenal, and by moral force alone effected its sur- 
render to Admiral Martini. At the same time, 
the municipality, grasping the seriousness of the 
situation, sent a deputation to treat with the two 
Austrian governors. The civil governor, Palffy, 
handed over his authority to the military comman- 
dant, Zichy ; the latter, intimidated by the resolute 
utterances of the advocate, Avesani, consented to 
evacuate the city, invest the municipality with his 
own powers and relinquish his claim to all munitions 
of war. So on the 22nd of March, 1848, the fall of 
Austrian dominion and the Venetian Republic were 
proclaimed together on St. Mark's piazza, whilst 
the presidency of the provisional government was 
entrusted to Daniele Manin. 

Nearly the same thing happened in the other 
Venetian towns. The military commanders of 
Treviso and Udine capitulated as Zichy had done ; 
those of the fortresses of Osoppo and Palmanova did 
likewise, and in the last-named place, the veteran 
General Zucchi, now set at liberty, was entrusted 
with the command. Other cities, like Padua, 
abandoned by their garrisons who went to join 
Radetzky's troops in the Quadrilateral, found them- 
selves free, and only one Venetian city — Verona — 
remained under Austrian rule ; the rest gave in their 
adliesion to the provisional government of Venice. 

The Italian territory between the Mincio and the 



EXCITEMENT IN TURIN'. ENTHUSIASM FOR WAR 1 67 

Adige, with the fortifications of Mantua, Peschiera, 
Verona and Legnago, was now all that remained to 
the Austrians who, hemmed in by the insurrection, 
had no other way open but to retreat to the narrow 
valley of the Adige where they found themselves 
confronted by the Piedmontese army. 

* 

Hardly was it known at Turin that Milan had 
revolted against the oppressor, than the Piedmontese 
were consumed by a fever of patriotism ; people 
abandoned their dwellings, to live in the streets and 
market-places ; schools, offices and business-houses 
were deserted, whilst a crowd assembled in front of 
the royal and ministerial palaces, demanding arms 
and clamouring for war. The bolder spirits equipped 
themselves for action and set off in the direction of 
the Ticino ; on the 22nd of March, a large band of 
university students, organised into companies of ber- 
saglieri, left for the frontier amid the acclamations of 
the crowd. On the afternoon of the 23rd, came, like 
a thunderbolt, the news that Milan was free, that 
the discomfited Austrians had retreated in the direction 
of the Quadrilateral, and that a Milanese messenger 
had reached Charles Albert to implore him to allow 
Piedmontese troops to enter Lombard territory. 

The papers instantly began publishing suggestive 
supplements on the situation. In the Risorgiuiento 
appeared a forcible article by Camillo Cavour, which 
commenced in these terms : " The decisive hour for 
the monarchy has arrived — the hour of momentous 
decisions, on which hang an empire's fate and a 



1 68 THE WAR OF 1 848 

people's destiny. In the face of what has happened 
in Lombardy and at Vienna, doubt, hesitation and 
delay are no longer possible for they would mean 
the most fatal policy. We men of phlegmatic tem- 
perament, who are accustomed to listen to the dictates 
of reason rather than to those of sentiment, have duly 
considered our determination and are in duty bound 
to declare it : only one way is open for the nation, the 
government and the King, and that is war — war, 
immediately and without delay." 

The mob surrounded the royal palace in expecta- 
tion of hearing the decision of the council of ministers 
which, it was well known, was engaged in deliberation. 
Hours passed and the crowd, instead of diminishing, 
became more and more dense. It was midnight when 
there appeared, on the famous balcony of the royal 
armoury, in a halo of light shed from the illuminated 
saloon beyond, the tall figure of Charles Albert. 
Over the tremulous and silent concourse of people 
he waved a scarf; it was the Italian tricolour! The 
enthusiasm of that moment can never be described : 
then it was that the dynast}' of Savoy and t3ie 
Piedmontese were indissolubly knit together by a 
solemn vow — that of mutual consecration to the 
liberation of Italy. 

On the morrow, the following proclamation was 
published, which had been drawn up the preceding 
evening in the name of the King, by Federico Sclopis, 
minister of Grace and Justice : " People of Lombardy 
and Venetia ! The destinies of Itah'' are ripe; happier 
omens favour the intrepid defenders of trampled 
rights. P"or the sake of our race, our knowledge of 



WIDESPREAD ENTHUSIASM FOR WAR 1 69 

the times in which we Hve, and our community of 
interests, we would first of all associate ourselves 
in that unanimous tribute of admiration which 
Italy awards you. Our arms which were already 
concentrated on your frontier, when you anticipated 
the glorious liberation of Milan, are now in readiness 
to afford you that aid which brother expects from 
brother and friend from friend. Let us act in 
accordance with your praiseworthy desire, relying 
on the help of that God who is plainly with us 
— that God who has given to Italians a Pius IX. 
and has so truly inspired Italy to work out 
her own redemption. And the better to show by 
outward acts how deeply we share the sentiment of 
Italian unity, we command that when our troops 
enter Lombard and Venetian territory, they bear the 
.Italian tricolour with the escutcheon of Savoy. 

'"Charles Albert.'" 
A few days later the Piedmontese army crossed 
the Ticino and triumphantly traversed Lombardy in 
the direction of the Mincio. 

Meanwhile, a loud cry wherein freedom, joy, 
and battle were mingled, resounded throughout the 
peninsula. Modena and Reggio, Parma and Piacenza 
immediately all threw off the yoke of their princelings 
and despatched troops to the help of their brethren in 
Lombardy and Venetia. The Grand Dul<c of Tuscany 
and the Pope, carried away by the tide of popular 
feeling, found themselves obliged to send recruits to 
the holy war now about to be waged. Even the 
King of Naples was compelled to promise a re- 
inforcement of fifteen thousand men, whilst Sicily, 



I/O THE WAR OF 1 848 

although struggHng to maintain her own independence 
against the Bourbons and unable to distract her 
fighting-men from their main purpose, contributed 
some hundred volunteers for the national cause. All 
the youth of Italy flocked to the Lombard camp, 
chanting the inspiring hymn of the young Genoese 
poet, Goffredo Mameli : 

"Fratelli d'ltalia, 
L'ltalia s'e desta, 
Dell' elmo di Scipi 
S'e cinta la testa : 
Dov'e la vittoria? 
Le porga la chioma, 
Che schiava di Roma 
Iddio la creo. 

Stringiamci a coorte, 

Siam pronti alia morte, 

L'ltalia chiamo. 
Noi siamo da secoli 
Calpesti, derisi, 
Perche non siam popoli, 
Perche siam divisi : 
Raccolgaci un' imica 
Bandiera, una speme ; 
Di fonderci insieme 
Gia I'oia suono. ..." 



(O brothers, your Italy 
Wakes from her sleep, 
The helmet of Rome 
On her brows doth she keep ; 
Doth victory tarry ? 
She comes at our call, 
For aye of us Romans 
God made her the thrall. 
Let each valiant band 
To die ready stand. 
For Italia all ! 



ENGLAND AND FRANCE FAVOUR ITALIAN UNITY I7I 

We are held in derision, 
We face the wurld's scorn, 
Because by division 
Our peoples arc torn : 
Let us trust in one hope, 
In one flag, so our power 
Shall thus front the hour 
That now shall befall.) 

During thirty centuries of Italian history, this was 
the first time that the whole peninsula had risen by a 
common impulse against a common foe : nothing 
like it had ever happened in ancient Rome, and the 
glorious episode of the communes had only belonged 
to one part of the country. But this wonderful 
agreement — this miracle so long desired by so many 
great Italians — had only been possible because the 
inviolable liberty of the Statute had secured to each 
citizen the right and the duty of making his voice 
heard in public affairs. The whole nation, evolved 
from the vicissitudes of so many centuries, now rose 
at last, conscious of her strength, and from Etna to the 
Alps, the tricoloured standard was hoisted to the oft 
and proudly-repeated cry of " L' Italia fara da se " 
(" Italy will provide for herself"). 

Indeed the European situation was such that little 
help could be reckoned on from the other Powers, of 
whom two only showed themselves favourable — 
England and France. But the enthusiasm of English 
liberals had waxed somewhat faint since the Paris 
revolution of February, because they feared that this 
French movement might spread throughout Europe : 
however, England was disposed to favour the separa- 
tion of Sicily from Naples, as she hoped thereby to 



172 THE WAR OF 1 848 

gain commercial advantages from the new kingdom 
whose gratitude would be duly assured. As to the 
French Republic, it was not willing to aid in the 
foundation of a great kingdom in North Italy, as 
such intervention would tend to make P'rance dis- 
trusted by the Italian monarchical governments, 
especially that of Charles Albert. Italy thus had 
to work out her own unity, but to carry out her 
noble purpose, a complete, sincere and lasting accord 
between her princes and peoples was necessary. As 
a matter of fact, all her rulers were not in agreement 
with their subjects, much less among themselves. 
With the exception of the King of Sardinia, none 
3f the other princes were inclined for war : Pius IX. 
wavered between patriotism and the general interests 
of Catholicism ; the Grand Duke of Tuscan}^, an 
Austrian, viewed with suspicion Charles Albert's 
ambitious policy, and most of all was the King of 
Naples ill-disposed to fight, as he now showed by 
suddenly delaying the departure of his battalions. 
When the trial by fire came, that which was strong 
and true bore the test, \\'hilst that which was spurious 
and worthless was separated as dross from the gold. 



Once more the destinies of Italy had to be decided 
hi that famous Quadrilateral — marked by the four 
fortresses of Peschiera and Mantua on the Mincio, 
and Verona and Legnago on the Adige — which may 
be considered as the classic Italian battlefield. At 
the beginning of April, the Piedmontcsc troops 
began to come in sight of the enemy on the banks of 



CHARLES ALBERT ASSUMES COMMAND 1 73 

the Mincio, and in the first skirmishes, succeeded in 
mastering the position on the river by occupying the 
bridges between Mantua and Peschiera. 

The Piedmontese army was inspired by that 
strongly warHke spirit which had been, for centuries, 
the traditional inheritance of Piedmont ; it was dis- 
ciplined and devoted to the King as well as to the 
cause for which it fought, and had excellent subal- 
terns, moreover, who served to familiarise the common 
soldiers with their superiors. The Piedmontese officers 
were distinguished by bravery and gallantry, but un- 
fortunately had somewhat neglected the art of war, 
and were too apt to think that everything depended 
on personal courage — a false military principle which 
was cherished by nearly all the officers during the 
war and shared even by the King himself 

Charles Albert, following the traditions of his 
house, assumed the chief command, but by reason 
of his temperament, was ill-adapted to lead an 
army : that constant vacillation which had so often 
caused his political conduct to be doubted and dis- 
trusted, now made him irresolute and hampered in 
action, at a crisis when prompt and energetic 
measures were supremely necessary. General Carlo 
Di Salasco, a good and cultivated man, but lacking 
enterprise and capacity for leadership, was chosen as 
head of the staff The best general possessed by the 
Piedmontese army was Eusebio Bava, the com- 
mandant of the first army corps, and an educated 
and clear-headed soldier, but he failed to imbue 
the King with his own sentiments. Unfortunately, 
Charles Albert, with few plans of his own, was 



174 THE WAR OF 1 848 

always borrowing projects and proposals from those 
who surrounded him, and thus, adopting ideas from 
first one and then another, only succeeded in making 
a futile amalgamation of the same. Neither was his 
cool and impassive courage contagious enough to 
inspire the soldiers to dash headlong into the fray, 
in spite of the fact that he himself was ever ready to 
stand in the forefront of the battle where he would 
silently remain, impervious to the bullets that hailed 
around him, displaying a sangfroid that evoked warm 
and general admiration. 

By the second half of April, sixty thousand Pied- 
montese, six thousand Tuscans and three thousand 
Modenese and Parmese were at Charles Albert's 
disposal on the banks of the Mincio, as well as 
seventeen thousand pontifical troops — who, under 
General Giovanni Durando, had arrived on the 
banks of the lower Po — -and four or five thousand 
Lombard volunteers who were trying to enter Tyrol 
from the side of the Lake of Garda : there were, in 
fact, about ninety thousand men in all, without 
reckoning the bands of Venetian insurgents and the 
Neapolitan army yet on the march 

Radetzky, however, in consequence of losses in- 
curred through skirmishes, capitulations and deser- 
tions, had seen the number of his army reduced to 
fifty thousand men, whilst owing to the spread of the 
insurrection, his communication with Austria was 
now limited to the valley of the Adige. This dis- 
heartened and demoralised army, surrounded on all 
sides by the enemy, seemed on the eve of annihi- 
lation. Contrary to all expectation, however, it 



RADETZKY IN QUADRILATERAL 1^5 

triumphed, because, besides being well disciplined, 
it had, owing to previous annual manoeuvres, ob- 
tained a thorough knowledge of the ground to be 
covered, and possessed an excellent commander in 
Marshal Radetzky who, in spite of his eighty-two 
years, displayed phenomenal strength of both mind 
and body. 

Charles Albert, unwilling to deviate from the 
established rule of strategics, began to invest 
Peschiera, the nearest of the four Quadrilateral 
fortresses, with his Mincio army, and in order to 
intercept communication between this stronghold 
and Verona, tried to force some of the enemy's posi- 
tions between the Mincio and the Adige ; in fact, on 
the 20th of April, he advanced as far as Pastrengo, 
to the north of Verona. Pleased with the suc- 
cessful result of this coup, he determined to attack 
Verona itself, all the more readily because it was 
reported that the inhabitants were ripe for revolt. 
On the 6th of May, he fought his way as far as the 
village of Santa Lucia, but the expectation of a 
rising was not realised, and the Piedmontese, after 
performing many feats of heroism, had to retire. For 
some time, they devoted themselves to besieging 
Peschiera, but marches and countermarches and the 
monotony, anxiety and fatigue consequent on a 
siege, had now somewhat damped their ardour. 

In the meantime, Radetzky, shut up in his redoubt- 
able Quadrilateral, could quietly await the arrival of 
reinforcements headed by General Nugent, from the 
Isonzo. At the end of April, Nugent crossed this 
river, and leaving on one side Palmanova, defended 



1/6 THE WAR OF 1 848 

by General Zucchi, made for Udine, and by speedy 
marches, arrived at the Piave without encountering 
any serious resistance. The pontifical troops, under 
Durando, were sent against the Austrians, but the 
engagement at Cornuda on the 8th of May did not 
impede the advance of Nugent who, by a rapid 
movement, tried to surprise Vicenza — without success, 
however, for Durando came to the help of the 
inhabitants. At all events, Nugent attained his 
end, for between Vicenza and Verona he joined his 
forces to those of Radetzky. The latter, taking into 
account the important strategic position of Vicenza, 
insisted on Nugent's army making another attempt 
to recover it, so, on the 23rd of May, it was sub- 
jected to a second attack which lasted a good part 
of the night : however, thanks to the precautions 
taken by Durando and the courage displayed by 
the soldiers and citizens, the Austrians were com- 
pelled to desist in their attempt and retreat to the 
Adige. 



In the meantime, important events were happening 
in other parts of Italy, especially in the Papal States. 
Strangely enough from Rome itself, whence the first 
shock had come to awaken the national conscience, 
came the first recoil. Pius IX. whose }'ielding dis- 
position was averse to all difficult and dangerous 
enterprises, soon found himself seriousl)' hampered 
in the way he had himself opened out. His adop- 
tion of the constitutional S3'stem had given rise to 
an actual struggle between liimself and his ministers; 



PAPAL EXCYCLICAL l REACTION IN NAPLES Ijy 

the latter aimed at making him say more than lie 
meaiit, whilst the Pope tried to retract much of 
what he had already said. The outbreak of the 
war had thrown him into the utmost embarrassment 
for the reactionaries intimidated him with the bug- 
bear of a new German schism ; thus it was that he 
ultimately decided to retire from the contest. On 
the 29th of April, without having previously im- 
parted his intention to his ministers, he read an 
allocution in the consistory, wherein he frankly 
declared that, as the earthly representative of the 
God of Peace, he could not favour war and that 
his paternal embrace included Austrians and Italians 
alike. His words provoked serious tumults in Rome; 
however, once more the Pontiff ceded to popular 
pressure, and the Roman troops who had already 
passed the Po and entered Venetian territory, con- 
tinued to take part in the fighting, but clerical 
enthusiasm for the Italian cause was on the wane, 
and Gioberti's ideal of a pope-regenerator of Italy 
had vanished for ever. 

The moral reaction initiated by the papal en- 
cyclical of the 29th of April found expression in 
the material reaction of the 15th of May in Naples. 
Owing to the lack of trade and industries, that 
bourgeoisie, which everywhere formed public opinion 
and was the mainstay of the new ideas, was much 
less numerous in the Neapolitan kingdom than in 
the rest of Ital}', hence the constitutional go\'ernment 
of the former was deficient in a solid basis. Onl)- the 
force of circumstances had constrained the King of 
Naples to grant a constitution and send an arm\' 

13 



178 THE WAR OF 1 848 

— under General Guglielmo Pepe — to the field of 
action in Lombardy. But Ferdinand II. intended to 
take as much as he had conceded and to recall his 
soldiers from a war in which he had no interest. 
Therefore mistrust soon sprang up between the 
liberals and the King — a mistrust that daily in- 
:reased. In the middle of April, the revolutionary 
party received a stimulus in the announcement 
that the Sicilian parliament had declared the supre- 
macy of the Bourbon throne in their island at an end 
for ever. On the other hand, to confirm the King in 
his reactionary policy, came the papal allocution of 
the 29th of April. Thenceforward, only an oppor- 
tunity was lacking for the outbreak of hostilities 
between the King and the party of progress, and 
this was easily found at the opening of parliament 
on the 15th of May. 

A dispute arose between the court and the depu- 
ties, with respect to the formula of the oath to be 
observed, which led to the citizens arming themselves 
in support of the deputies. King Ferdinand who 
desired nothing better, now let loose upon them 
his still loyal soldiers as well as the laszaroni : and 
when by this act parliament was dissolved and all 
rioting was suppressed, smilingly remarked : " I have 
also made my demonstration." With this royal 
'demonstration' of the iSth of May, 1848, was the 
counter-revolution inaugurated in Europe, from which 
date the revival of a past which had apparently dis- 
appeared for ever, seemed again possible. 

This coup cVctat likewise diminished the probability 
of a successful nationalist campaign, for Ferdinand 



FAILURE OF PROVINCES TO AMALGAMATE l^g 

had suddenly sent orders to recall General GugHelmo 
Pepe and his army who had already reached Ferrara. 
But Pepe, that veteran of Italian liberalism, chose to 
resign rather than obey the royal command, and then 
sought to induce the army to follow him beyond the 
Po. Only a few hundred men responded, but, 
arriving in Venetia when it had nearly all been 
reconquered by Austria, they repaired to Venice. 

Thus began the estrangement of the princes from 
the national cause, but even among the different 
Italian peoples, the wonderful concord of earlier days 
had ceased to exist. The various provinces had for so 
long been parted by such wide and radical distinctions, 
that the first attempt at amalgamation of such jarring 
elements was bound to prove abortive. At the outset, 
the idea of independence and nationality had prevailed 
over every other feeling, but after the first successes of 
the campaign, when the struggle with the foreigner had 
become more pronounced, aspirations after a greater 
political freedom assumed a more local, that is to say, 
provincial, development. Parma and Modena had cer- 
tainly set the example of immediate annexation with 
Piedmont, but Venice had resuscitated the republic of 
St. Mark, and at Milan the more advanced liberals were 
agitating against the Piedmontese ideal of union and, 
even after the annexation was approved (June loth), 
constantly raised vexatious disputes, inspired by 
municipal jealousy, apropos of the capital of the new 
kingdom. Naturally, these disagreements did not 
fail to find an echo in the ranks of the army. 

* 



l80 THE WAR OF 1 848 

After the battle of Santa Lucia, Charles Albert 
who had set his heart on besieging Peschiera, 
concentrated his forces between the latter place and 
Verona, thus enfeebling his right wing so that only 
six thousand Tuscan soldiers were encam[:)ed around 
Mantua. Radetzky intended to fall upon and crush 
these troops before they could obtain aid, then to 
follow the right bank of the Mincio and hem in the 
Piedmontese army between this river and the Adige : 
b)^ this means, Peschiera could easil}- have been 
replenished with both men and provisions. On the 
27th of Ma}^ therefore, whilst the Piedmontese were 
devoting their attention to investing the above- 
mentioned fortress which seemed on the point 
of surrender, Radetzky marched out of Verona with 
thirty-fi\'e thousand men in the direction of Mantua, 
and on the 29th of Ma}-, encountered the Tuscan 
troops near the \-illages of Curtatone and Montanara. 
The Austrians met with a \"igorous resistance 
throughout the da\- ; e\'en the j'outhful students 
of the universities of Pisa and Siena, \\\\o fought 
under the leadership of their professors, behaved 
like heroes. Radetzk}-, ^\•ho had at his disposal 
forces so superior in numbers, finallx' won the battle, 
but the opposition of the Tuscan troops had been so 
unexpectedly prolonged, that the Piedmontese army 
had been able to mass itself on the Mincio; in fact, 
when the Austrian marshal attempted an attack on 
the bridge of Goito, the next da\', he was repulsed. 
It was at Goito, during the enemy's retreat, that 
Charles Albert recei\"e(l the good news of the 
capilulaticjn of Peschiera. This twofold victory 



CAPITULATION OF DURANDO 1 51 

re-awakened enthusiasm in the popular mind, but 
these were the last Italian successes in the campaign 
of 1848. 

Peschiera having been taken, Charles Albert, still 
adhering to the petty rules of ancient strategics, 
intended concentrating his army at Mantua — the 
other fortress on the Mincio. But Radetzky, 
more daring and inventive, wished to animate 
the depressed courage of his men after the defeat 
of Goito and, leaving barely six thousand soldiers 
in the fortress to cheat his opponents, he, with 
the greater part of his army, attacked that of General 
Durando in Venetian territory. Once more a gallant 
struggle was waged round Vicenza, but finally, 
Durando was obliged to capitulate (June iith) and 
the garrison were only allowed to leave the city with 
their arms and belongings on condition that they 
would not fight against Austria for the space of three 
months. 

Radetzky, anxious to complete the subjugation of 
Vcnetia, sent troops to occupy Padua and Treviso ; 
soon after, Palmanova also fell into the hands of the 
Austrians. Thus, throughout the Venetian province, 
only Venice and the fortress of Osoppo — one in 
the midst of her lagoons, the other on its rock at the 
foot of the Alps — continued to float the Italian 
tricolour. In the face of the Austrian victories, the 
Venetians decided to entrust their fate to Charles 
Albert, and on the 4th of July, in obedience to the 
stern necessity of the hour, they deliberated on the 
advisabilit}' of fusion with Piedmont: Daniele Manin 
himself invited his party to sacrifice their republican 



1 82 THE WAR OF 1 848 

ideal for the sake of promoting the triumph of the 
cause of independence. 

At this juncture, Sicily, who was still maintaining her 
resistance against Naples, offered her crown to Charles 
Albert's second son, the Duke of Genoa, but if such 
a step facilitated the aggrandisement of the Sardinian 
states, it none the less involved Piedmont in serious 
embarrassment, for, engaged in the war against 
Austria, she did not want to embroil herself as well 
with the Neapolitan Bourbons. - Pf ence, the Duke 
of Genoa, acting on his father's advice, took time 
for consideration : his acceptance of the Sicilian 
throne depended on the issue of the war of indepen- 
dence, and that issue was already seriously com- 
promised. 

Charles Albert now found himself single-handed in 
the struggle : the King of Naples' army had already 
retired ; the pontifical troops had capitulated at 
Vicenza ; the Tuscan force had been nearly anni- 
hilated at Curtatone and Montanara ; the Lombard 
volunteers, attempting to invade Tyrol, had been 
repulsed and were now awaiting reorganisation, 
whilst Venice, instead of sending aid, was asking it 
for herself The morale of the Piedmontese army 
was lowered : those troops who could boast of having 
been nearly always victorious, now saw no decisive 
advantage resulting from their many engagements, 
and were still on the banks of the Mincio where 
their enthusiasm of the preceding April had given 
place to the enervating tedium incurred by the siege 
of Mantua. Through the malaria induced by the 
neighbouring marshes, several thousand soldiers were 



BATTLE OF CUSTOZA 1 DEFENCE OF MILAN 1 83 

invalided in the hospital. In fact, Charles Albert 
could not count upon more than sixty-five thousand 
men, whilst Radetzky had augmented the number of 
his troops by reinforcements to seventy-five thousand. 
Those sixty-five thousand Piedmontese formed an 
immense line from the high tableland of Rivoli 
(north of Verona) to the environs of Mantua where 
the King had the flower of his army. Naturally, this 
extensive line was weak in several places, nor was it 
possible to concentrate the strength necessary for its 
defence. The Austrian marshal proposed to break 
the centre of the enemy's line : they fought for three 
days, from the 23rd to the 25th of July, on the 
heights of Custoza (between the Mincio and the 
Adige), and there it was that the issues of this first 
campaign were decided. The commissariat which 
had been but ill - organised in the Piedmontese 
army, was at that time so defective that many 
regiments were not victualled at all ; the heat was 
intense ; the debilitated soldiery fell through sun- 
stroke, thirst or want of food ; yet in spite of all 
these drawbacks, four Piedmontese brigades held 
their own for three days against five Austrian 
army corps, but finally were compelled to beat an 
orderly retreat, and cross the Mincio. 

Charles Albert ought now to have fallen back on 
Piacenza and thus put the Po between himself and 
the enemy, but he chose rather to divert his atten- 
tion to the defence of Milan, so that it should not 
be said that he had abandoned this city. Unfor- 
tunately, after the March insurrection, the return 
of the Austrians had been deemed impossible and 



1 84 THE WAR OF 1 848 

hence, no means of resistance had been organised, 
either on the Oglio or on the Adda. At no point 
from the Mincio to Milan was the King's army 
able to confront the enemy, and even the fighting 
which took place under the walls of the city itself 
on the 4th of August, was unfavourable to the 
Piedmontese. 

At the opening of the campaign, Charles Albert 
had not meant to enter Milan till he could do so in 
triumph after a decisive victory. Sadly different 
was the visit he now made to the one of which he 
had dreamed : no huzzas and acclamations were 
heard ; anger and desperation were the feelings 
uppermost in all men's minds ; barricades blocked 
the streets ; tocsins tolled ominously, whilst the 
population seemed disposed to make a resolute 
defence and to renew the glorious episodes of 
March. 

But the generals judged all resistance to the 
Austrians to be impossible, and Charles Albert had 
to consummate the terrible sacrifice of signing the 
deed of capitulation. When, on the afternoon of 
the 5 th of August, the news of this decision ran 
through the city, it produced the most widespread 
consternation. Part of the populace, distracted with 
terror and rage, even went so far as to accuse the 
monarch of treason. Then the King declared that 
if the Milanese had really determined to bury 
themselves under the walls of their city, he and his 
sons would remain and share their fate, but the 
municipality of Milan, apprehending the gravit}' of 
the issue at slake, ratified the capitulation treaty. 



CHARLES ALBERT LEAVES MILAN 1 85 

But meantime the tumult increased ; an infuriated 
crowd surrounded the royal quarters in the Greppi 
palace, vociferating" insults and imprecations against 
the much-tried monarch. In vain he attempted to 
speak from the balcony ; the }'ells and invectives of 
that terrible mob, now exasperated by rage to the 
very utmost, only became louder. The King was 
obliged to withdraw for, whilst murderous cries 
resounded from without, shots were fired against 
the palace windows. Indeed his peril was extreme, 
for to show his confidence in the Milanese, he had 
left his army outside the walls, only reserving a 
limited escort of carabineers. Finally, a regiment 
of his bersaglicri, hearing of their monarch's danger- 
ous position, came to his rescue, and the crowd 
dispersed without offering any resistance. 

It was nearly midnight — the darkness only relieved 
by the lurid fllames of burning houses which had been 
fired so that they might not furnish a shelter for the 
enemy, the silence that reigned everywhere in Milan 
only broken by a stra}^ musket shot or the occasional 
toll of a bell — when Charles Albert, pale, sad, and 
perceptibly aged in countenance and gait, left the 
Greppi palace on foot, and finally the city, with an 
aching heart, but with the consciousness of having 
done his duty. 

Following the Piedmontese army which retreated 
in the direction of the Ticino, many thousands of 
Lombard families voluntarily took the wt^y of exile, 
and with this melancholy cortege, the King re-entered 
his territories. 

But it was onl}' in misfortune that Charlc^ Albert's 



1 86 THE WAR OF 1 848 

great qualities of heart and mind were truly manifest. 
With what noble, dignified and forcible words did 
he then appeal to his people! " I am not unaware 
of the accusations with which some would stain my 
name, but God and my conscience are witnesses of 
the integrity of my actions and I leave these to the 
impartial judgment of history. A truce has been 
established with the enemy and, in the interval, we 
shall either make honourable conditions of peace or 
return once more to the campaign. Every pulsation 
of my heart has been for Italian independence, but 
Italy has not yet shown the world that she can 
accomplish it by herself People of the kingdom ! 
show yourselves strong under misfortune ! Test the 
liberal institutions which are growing up amongst 
you — those institutions which, mindful of your needs, 
I granted you and shall always know how to respect 
with fidelity. I yet cherish the memory of the 
greetings with which you have saluted my name ; 
they sounded in my ears amid the din of battle. 
Trust your King implicitly ! The cause of Italian 
independence is not yet lost." 

The last one to lay down his arms was Giuseppe 
Garibaldi, a young Nizzard sailor who, in 1834, had 
been exiled for his political opinions and had betaken 
himself to South America where, through his courage, 
valour and soldierly genius, he had acquired a high 
reputation as a military leader. The news of his 
bold enterprises in America had reached Italy just 
when the peninsula was awakening to new life and 
was there hailed as a good omen. Who, however, 
could have foreseen that the future destinies of the 



GARIBALDI OFFERS HIS SERVICES 1 8/ 

nation were to be so closely associated with the 
fortunes of the youthful hero of Monte-Video ? 
Hardly had he heard of the new turn Italian affairs 
were taking, than he set out with a band of 
comrades-in-arms, to share in the sacred task of his 
country's redemption. Having arrived in Piedmont, 
he went straight to the royal headquarters, to offer 
his sword to that king in whose name he had been 
condemned to death in 1834, but the dashing 
American captain was somewhat coldly received by 
Charles Albert, surrounded as the latter was by men 
who distrusted popular adventurers. Garibaldi, 
impatient for warfare, offered his services to the 
governor of Milan, and, by the middle of July, was 
put in command of the volunteers dispersed between 
that city and Bergamo — a force with which he amal- 
gamated his own legion of Monte-Videan heroes, 
with their red uniforms and green facings. But 
scarcely had he thus organised his corps of volun- 
teers, when an armistice was concluded between 
Charles Albert and the Austrian government (August 
9, 1848). This truce was not recognised by Garibaldi, 
and for some time he remained under arms, at the 
head of a thousand men on the banks of Lake 
Maggiore, till, pursued by an entire armv corps, he 
had to retreat to Switzerland. 

The defenders of the fortress of Osoppo, in the 
high valley of Tagliamento, also refused to recognise 
the armistice and held out against the Austrians for 
more than two months, till the}' were compelled to 
capitulate in the following October. 

In short, the whole of the re\-olted districts were 



1 88 THE WAR OF 1 848 

again secured by xAustria, with the exception of 
Venice who, protected b}' her lagoons, continued to 
maintain her freedom and independence. Here, hke- 
wise, the armistice had provoked much indignation 
against Piedmont : on the iith of August, the com- 
missioners who, after the annexation, had assumed 
the reins of power in Charles Albert's name, retired, 
and Daniele Manin announced to the people from 
the loggia of the ducal palace that, in two days' time, 
an assembly would be convened to nominate a new 
governor, adding : " For the next fort)'-eight hours, 
I govern " — words which were greeted with frantic 
enthusiasm and cries of joy that well attested the 
popularity of the speaker. 

Certainly, Austria had no reason to complain of 
the Pope who, by his equivocal action had helped to 
cool the ardour of the Italians ; Radetzky, notwith- 
standing, sent an Austrian corps into the Legations. 
But the stout resistance offered by the Bolognese 
as well as protests from Rome were effectual in 
preventing any further expeditions into that territory. 



Thus in six months had the Italians passed from 
the most exalted hopes to the depths of despair ; but 
they learned the lesson that if a few days' fighting 
over the barricades sufficed to make a revolution, 
other forces were necessary to gain and insure in- 
dependence. Needless to say the unfortunate issue 
of the campaign of 1848 naturalh' reacted on affairs 
throughout the peninsula. 

The discomfited House of Savo)' could no longer 




DANIELE MANIN. 



190 THE WAR OF 1 848 

think of Sicily, hence the Duke of Genoa refused the 
crown which had been offered to him by the SiciHan 
parHament. Then Ferdinand of Naples sent his 
troops to subdue the island, and on the 3rd of 
September, began that bombardment of Messina 
which caused his name to be execrated by all 
civilised countries and procured for him the nick- 
name of ' King Bomba.' The city, bombarded by 
the garrison which was ensconced in the citadel, as 
well as by the Bourbon fleet which had entered the 
harbour, maintained a vigorous resistance for some 
days, but was forced to surrender on the 7th of 
September. Hereupon, was seen a spectacle that 
only Bourbon soldiers could furnish : pillage, mas- 
sacres and conflagrations devastated Messina, till at 
last, the commanders of the English and French 
fleets, then maintained in Sicilian waters, intervened 
in the name of humanity and for a time succeeded 
in suspending hostilities. 

Meanwhile, Ferdinand set himself to stifle every 
germ of freedom in the kingdom of Naples. He had 
known how to take advantage of the events of the 
15th of May; at first, in spite of the fact that the 
newly-convoked parliament had been sitting for 
some time, he had contented himself with modifying 
the electoral laws. Thus, although the constitution 
was not nominally abolished, in reality it exercised 
no functions whatever. 

In the Papal States, matters were rapidly coming 
to a crisis. It was soon seen that the constitutional 
system was not possible in a theocratic government. 
At the very moment when the legislators needed all 



DEATH OF ROSSI : FFJGHT OF THE POPE IQl 

their strength and ability to re-organise the achnini- 
stration, Pius IX. openly disapproved of their work. 
After availing himself of the services of Mamiani, 
Fabbri and others, the Pontiff had recourse to Pelle- 
grino Rossi who was justly reputed an able states- 
man and a skilled diplomatist. A man of a masterful 
and energetic temperament, Rossi believed himself 
capable of swaying the different factions in the state, 
but unhappily fell a victim to the hatred that he 
had incurred in various quarters, for on the 15th of 
November, 1848, whilst ascending the steps of the 
chancellor's palace where the new Roman parliament 
was that very day to assemble, he was stabbed by 
the hand of an assassin. Throughout that day 
the city was plunged in stupefaction and disorder : 
on the morrow, the populace, incited by the extreme 
party, commenced a definite agitation and assembled 
in the evening beneath the windows of the Quirinal 
— the Pope's residence — where several shots were 
fired. Pius IX., under pressure from the excited 
mob, formed a democratic ministry, and the triumph 
of the radicals was accordingly celebrated by fetes 
and illuminations. But ten days later, the whole city 
was staggered by the news that, on the night of 
the 24th-2 5th, the Pope had fled. The latter had, 
as a matter of fact, sought the hospitality of the 
King of Naples who put the castle of Gaeta at his 
guest's disposal. The Roman ministry sent a depu- 
tation to induce the fugitive to return, but instead of 
receiving it, Pius IX. issued a decree which declared 
all action of the government, after November i6th, 
to be null and void. Then it was determined to 



192 THE WAR OF 1 848 

convoke an assembly, to deliberate on the form of 
rule to be adopted. Thereupon, the Pope excom- 
municated all who should take part in the elections, a 
step which resulted in the abstention of the moderates 
from the poll and the unqualified victory of the 
radicals. On the 5th of February, 1849, the Roman 
assembly met ; on the 9th, it declared the temporal 
power of the Popes to be at an end and proclaimed 
the ' Roman republic' 

In Tuscany, too, the Grand Duke looked upon 
constitutionalism with no favourable e}-e, although 
he was obliged to tolerate it. Meantime, the Leg- 
hornese, incited by the liberals, revolted, and Leopold 
II. found himself compelled to nominate a demo- 
cratic ministry in which Guerrazzi and Montanelli 
took part, but this done, he imitated the example 
of the Pontiff. Siena, the stronghold of the reac- 
tionary part}', was the Grand Duke's first asylum, 
but he proceeded later to Porto San Stefano and 
from thence to Gaeta. A provisional government, 
under the leadership of Guerrazzi, Montanelli and 
Mazzoni, was now proclaimed throughout Tuscany. 

Austria, who had re-established the ancient regime 
in Modena and Parma, was meanwhile glutting her 
vengeance in Lombardy and Venetia. 

But Venice still persisted in her self-defence and 
gave yet another proof of greatness and heroism. 
The Republic had been proclaimed anew, under the 
presidency of Daniele Man in \\\\o A\ished to have as 
his coadjutors, two men well versed in naval and 
military affairs — Colonel Cavedalis and Rear-Admiral 
Graziani — whilst the Xea|)olitan veteran, Gugliclmo 



siF.GE OF Venice: difficulties of Austria 193 

Pepe, was put in command of the troops. The sis^ht 
of the time-honoured standard of St. Mark rejoiced 
the hearts of the Venetians, but with it, they sadly 
needed the wealth and the galleys of their ancient 
days. Nevertheless, all the inhabitants, from the 
richest patrician to the poorest plebeian, gave proofs 
of disinterested patriotism. To encourage the de- 
fenders and break the iron ring by which the city 
was now hemmed in, a sortie was resolved on, and 
effected on the 27th of October, 1848. The Venetian 
troops succeeded in occupying Mestre — where the 
leader of the besieging forces had been stationed — 
and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, but after 
giving this proof of their valour, retired. In this 
engagement, the Neapolitan poet, Alessandro Poerio, 
sustained severe wounds from which he died, univer- 
sally regretted, a few days later. 

The Austrian throne now changed hands : in 
December, 1848, Ferdinand I. abdicated in favour of 
his nephew, Francis Joseph, a youth of eighteen. 
Thus Austria found herself struggling in a sea of 
difficulties ; distracted by petty internal revolutions, 
she had to face rebellion in Hungary, open hostilities 
in Venice and the increasing menaces of Piedmont. 



XI 



THE WAR OF 1 849 



In Piedmont, the parliament and the press, as well 
as the political immigrants, were in favour of war : 
all the intrigues of European diplomacy failed to 
stifle the nation's patriotic aspirations, whilst 
Charles Albert himself was desirous of resuming 
the struggle with Austria. The King, after the 
campaign of 1848, had talked of abdicating the throne, 
but now, either through some vague hope of ultimate 
success or the idea that his return to arms would 
convince the world of the groundlessness of the 
calumnies levelled at him, he renounced this inten- 
tion. On the 1 2th of March, 1849, the armistice was 
revoked, and on the 20th, hostilities recommenced. 

This time Piedmont stood alone : Naples and 
Sicily were absorbed by their fratricidal contest ; 
the Roman and Plorentine governments were exclu- 
sively occupied in consolidating their republics ; 
Lombardy and Venetia were awaiting the Pied- 
montese troops before x'enturing on revolt, whilst 
Venice had to concentrate her attention on her own 
defence. Thus there only remained Charles Albert's 

X94 



CZAJiNOlVSJ^Y INVESTED WITH CHIEF COMMAND 1 95 

army to confront the Austrian forces : its number of 
fighting men had been with difficulty increased to 
ninety thousand, but these were, for the most part, 
newly-levied troops who had never been under fire. 
Moreover, the extreme party stirred up discontent 
in the ranks by shaking the soldiers' confidence in 
the officers who had led the preceding campaign. 

The King, now conscious of his own shortcomings, 
renounced the supreme command — one of the many 
painful sacrifices that he made for his country's good. 
The Piedmontese general who ought to have filled his 
place was Bava ; but just at that time, the latter, 
to vindicate himself from accusations brought against 
him, had published an account of the campaign of 
1848, which had deeply wounded Charles Albert's 
feelings ; hence, this officer was ignored. It was 
proposed to call in a French general, but France, 
very averse to compromising herself with Austria 
for the sake of pleasing Piedmont, raised great 
difficulties in the matter. Finally, Czarnowsky — ■ 
a Pole, noted for the part he had taken in his 
country's war of independence — was made com- 
mander-in-chief But this choice was not a happy 
one, for this general owed his fame more to the 
sympathy that Poland had aroused throughout 
Europe, rather than to any special gifts of his own. He 
was, moreover, ignorant of the Piedmontese language 
and customs, and knew nothing of the ground to be 
covered by the fighting, whilst, plain in person, un- 
dignified in presence and phlegmatic in temperament, 
he possessed none of those external advantages 
which inspire an army with confidence. 



196 THE WAR OF 1 849 

On the other hand, Radetzky could now reckon on 
a hundred thousand men in Italy, inspirited by 
the remembrance of their recent victories ; the 
veteran leader himself seemed rejuvenated by these 
successes and, in this later phase of the war, knew 
how to enhance the renown he had already acquired. 

The river which marks the boundaries between 
Piedmont and Lombardy is the Ticino which flows 
out of Lake Maggiore and, after a course of about 
ninety-two miles, is absorbed in the Po below Pavia. 
The Austrian commander intended concentrating his 
forces near this river, boldly entering Piedmont and 
giving immediate battle to the enemy ; in the event 
of his being victorious, the insurrections which had 
broken out in Lombardy and Venetia would, he 
imagined, be easily quelled. To this end, he had 
massed his troops in the neighbourhood of Pavia and 
thence, on the 20th of March, seventy thousand 
of them passed unchallenged over the Ticino. 

The defence of this route had been entrusted 
to General Ramorino who, in 1834, had led the 
expedition organised by Mazzini in Savoy ; in 
fact, it was the Mazzinian party who had recom- 
mended him to the government. Ramorino had 
received orders to repair, with all his men, to La 
Cava — a position which commands the passage of 
the Ticino near Pavia ; instead, he remained on the 
bank of the Po and only sent to La Cava a few 
battalions which, on the Austrian advance, were 
obliged to retreat. He was therefore accused of 
treason ; certain!)^ his disobedience was proved and 
was the result either of heedlessness, incapacity 



AUSTRIAXS ENTER PIEDMONT 1 9/ 

or perhaps of the jealousy of Czarnowsky who had 
fought side b)' side with him in Poland and was now 
his superior. Ramorino however paid dearly for 
his error ; he was condemned to death and shot in 
the citadel of Turin. 

The Austrian troops had now entered Piedmont. 
At the same time, Czarnowsky with Charles Albert 
and the greater part of the Piedmontese army, 
crossed the Ticino, much more to the north, at 
the bridge of Buffalora, and reached Magenta without 
sighting the enemy. It was a movement similar 
to that made by Radetzky, but decision and audacity 
were necessary under such circumstances and it was 
needful to force a bold entrance into Lombardy, 
regardless of the enemy. What, indeed, could the 
Austrians have done in the midst of a hostile popu- 
lation — for Lombardy and Venetia were insurgent 
to the backbone — where the Piedmontese army could 
have foiled their retreat ? However, Czarnowsky, 
instead of following out his own plan, chose, like a 
second-rate leader, to adopt that of his opponent 
and decided on turning back and retracing his 
passage across the Ticino. 

The place where the fate of this campaign was 
to be settled, is the tract of ground between the 
last-named river and the Sesia ; midway lies the town 
of Novara and a little more to the south are Mortara 
and Vigevano. Near the two latter, on the 21st of 
March, the Piedmontese encountered the Austrians ; 
at Vigevano and at Sforzesca close by, the former 
were victorious, but they sustained a defeat at Mortara, 

Then Czarnowsky concentrated his forces below 



198 THE WAR OF 1 849 

Novara where, on the 23rd of March, the last act 
of the drama was played out. The troops were dis- 
heartened by their late repulse at Mortara : more- 
over, the commissariat was, on this occasion, so 
badly managed, that many entirely lacked provisions, 
and evil presentiments clouded the spirits of the 
men. However, at the beginning of the action, 
fortune favoured the Piedmontese, and the Duke 
of Genoa who had two horses killed under him, 
drove the Austrians out of the valley of Bicocca, but 
Czarnowsky — who had organised a plan of defence 
and did not wish to abandon it — instead of des- 
patching troops to strike a decisive blow, gave the 
order for a retreat. In the meantime, fresh Austrian 
reinforcements came up and, after a desperate struggle 
which did not end till the evening was already far 
advanced, remained masters of the field. 

How terrible was that night of the 23rd of March, 
1849, at Novara! It was raining in torrents; the 
Piedmontese soldiers were fleeing disbanded ; carts full 
of wounded were encumbering the streets, whilst the 
Austrian artillery was continually plying its death- 
dealing work. Such was the spectacle which met 
Charles Albert's eyes, as, with haggard face and con- 
tracted brow and his tall figure prematurely bowed, 
he stood with folded arms, beneath the walls of 
Novara, lost in the memories of the past. A year 
before, on that very 23rd of March, he had declared, 
from the royal palace at Turin, the war of inde- 
pendence and lo ! of that happy day, this was the 
gloomy and tragic anniversary, so fraught with woe 
to Italy and to himself! What were his reflections 




FERDINAND, DUKE OF GENOA. 



200 THE WAR OF 1 849 

in that bitter moment? Did he remember how, 
twenty-eight years ago, he had come to Novara after 
he had abandoned the constitutional cause ; did he 
recollect how his friends of 1821 had defended the 
Italian tricolour underneath those same walls and 
had only found the exile that was the lot of the 
vanquished ? And now for him, likewise, all hope of 
greatness and of glory had departed : all in vain had 
he courted danger in the foremost ranks of the fight 
and sought death on that field where his generals 
Passalacqua and Perrone, and so many other valiant 
champions of the cause, had fallen. 

On being consulted as to whether it were possible 
to continue the struggle, the Piedmontese generals 
answered the King by a decided negative. The latter 
then sent to demand an armistice from Radetzky, but 
the conditions proposed were terribly exacting. It 
seemed to Charles Albert that he, personally, was 
the obstacle to obtaining better terms, and thus it 
was he consummated his last sacrifice for the sake 
of Italy ; not only did he abdicate in favour of his 
son, Victor Emmanuel II., but, the better to exclude 
himself from all part in public affairs, he determined 
to leave Piedmont and retire to Portugal. Impatient 
to be gone, he did not even wait for daybreak, but 
that same night, in a carriage which had been found 
and prepared for him, he set out on his self-imposed 
exile. By a pathetic coincidence — for everything on 
this occasion must have tended to remind him of the 
errors of his youth — the last words the discrowned 
monarch heard as he left the frontier of his kingdom 
at Nice, were expressions of kindly s)'mpathy from 



FERDINAND II. OF NAPLES 201 

the governor, a son of that Santorre Di Santarosa who 
had been his comrade in 1821. What a weary and 
melancholy journey must his have been, as he crossed 
France and Spain to far-off Oporto where, a few 
months later, the ' magnanimous king,' broken down 
by many sorrows, breathed his last.^ 

/\fter the victory gained over Piedmont, it was 
easy for Austria to put down insurrectionary move- 
ments in the Lombardo-Venetian States. For ten 
days, however, the city of Brescia, resisted the 
attacks of General Haynau and his invading troops 
who, on the 31st of March, entered the city, but 
hardly as masters of it, for they had to take the 
houses one by one, and only the next day did 
Brescia, devastated by fire and sword and filled with 
corpses, submit to the Austrian conqueror. The 
heroism of the Brescians was only equalled by the 
savage cruelty of the enemy ; thus while the atroci- 
ties committed by them caused General Haynau's 
name to be execrated throughout the civilised world, 
that of Brescia was written on the scroll of fame, in 
shining letters, for ever. 

* 

Italy had, indeed, fallen upon evil days, for the 
disaster of Novara was felt throughout the whole 
peninsula. 

But the Austrian successes encouraged Ferdinand 
II. of Naples to resume his task of the subjugation 
of Sicily. At the end of March, twenty thousand 

' His remains were carried to Italy and found a resting-place in the 
Superga, the royal burial-church near Turin. 



202 THE WAR OF 1 849 

Bourbon troops marched from Messina against the 
rebels, occupied Taormina as well as Catania, and 
advanced on Palermo. The provincial government 
proposed to make terms, which the Palermitans how- 
ever refused to accept, so for three days the royal 
troops had to contest their entrance into the city, and 
only obtained possession, by promising favourable con- 
ditions — conditions which the Bourbon king after- 
wards failed to observe. In fact, the island was 
now oppressed by a heavier yoke than ever. 

In the kingdom of Naples, Ferdinand, having at 
last thrown off the mask, not only dispensed with 
convoking parliament, but actually caused the most 
eminent men of the liberal party, including Luigi 
Settembrini, Antonio Scialoia, Carlo Poerio, Silvio 
Spaventa and many others, to be arrested. Only too 
easily alas ! could such a ruler find corrupt and evilly- 
disposed judges ready to wreak his infamous will. 

A milder regime prevailed in Tuscany. The flight 
of the Grand Duke had left the power in the hands 
of the democratic party, and Guerrazzi had become 
dictator of the duchy. But a republican form of 
government was not adapted to such a state as the 
Tuscan ; rather did it disturb the equilibrium of this 
easy-going people. After the disaster of Novara, 
Austrian interference in Tuscany seemed imminent, 
so the moderate party in Florence judged it best to 
avoid all pretext for such meddling by recalling the 
Grand Duke. On the 12th of April, 1849, Ricasoli, 
Capponi and Peruzzi, with several other distin- 
guished members of the moderate party, acting 
conjointly with the Florentine municipality, assumed 



RETURN OF LEOPOLD IL I MAZZINI AT ROME 203 

power in the name of the Grand Duke Leopold, and 
this change was accepted by all the Tuscan towns, 
with the exception of Leghorn which remained in 
the hands of the revolutionists. 

The moderates forthwith invited the Grand Duke, 
who was then at Gaeta, to re-enter his states. He 
accepted this proposal, so advantageous to himself, 
but sent on in advance an Austrian force which 
soon stifled all revolt at Leghorn. Moreover, as if the 
mortification endured through foreign intervention 
was not a sufficient affront to his people who had 
spontaneously reinstated him on his throne, Leopold 
II., on his re-entry into Florence, actually wore the 
uniform of an Austrian general. From that day for- 
ward, the whole Tuscan population ceased to have any 
interest in the fate of the house of Lorraine, and 
even the moderate party declared itself in opposition 
to that dynasty when the latter obeyed the dictates 

of Vienna. 

* 
* * 

In the Papal States events of the gravest im- 
portance were meanwhile taking place. When the 
republic had been proclaimed at Rome, in February, 
1849, Giuseppe Mazzini had exultantly hastened 
thither. In 1848, when Italy rose against the foreigner, 
the leader, who for so many years had been the most 
fervent champion of national unity and independence, 
had found himself ousted from the councils of his 
countrymen because the latter, averse to the notion 
of a republic and inspired by the ideals of Gioberti 
and Balbo, sought rather to act in concert with their 



204 THE WAR OF 1849 

princes and pontiff. Thus Mazzini as a fomenter of 
discord, had failed to profit the Italian cause in 1848. 
But when the republican cry was heard from Rome 
in the following year, he hoped that this ideal of a 
commonwealth would spread thence throughout the 
peninsula. The executive power in the new govern- 
ment was entrusted to a triumvirate, composed of 
Mazzini, Safifi and Armellini ; in reality, Mazzini was 
the dictator. 

The Roman Republic at once encountered serious 
obstacles. From Gaeta, Pius IX. had invited the 
Catholic nations to restore his temporal authority : 
Spain, alwa}'s zealous in defence of the altar, im- 
mediately offered her aid ; the King of Naples who 
harboured the Pontiff as his guest, declared his 
willingness to help ; Austria, who supported the new 
attitude assumed by the Pope, also promised her 
intervention, but, most surprising of all, was the 
action of France. 

On the loth of December, 1848, Louis Napoleon 
was nominated president of the French Republic. 
Even then he intended the ruin of the polit}- over 
which he presided, in order to establish his imperial 
throne, but lie saw that he would need the support 
of the clerical party and that the only means of 
obtaining this, was the restoration of the papal power; 
however, finding strong opposition in the Chamber 
of Deputies — wherein the liberal element predomi- 
nated — he resorted to a diplomatic equivoque. He 
declared that it was France's policy to hinder the 
extension of Austrian influence in Itah-, and therefore 
caused an arm}- to be despatched, under General 




GIUSKPrE ISfAZZINI. 



206 THE WAR OF 1 849 

Oudinot, into the Papal States, to defend — so he said 
— the interests of true liberty and to allow of the 
Romans freely determining their own destiny. But 
at Rome this foreign interference was considered an 
impertinence, and the republic declared that it would 
oppose force by force. So when on the 30th of 
April, 1849, Oudinot's troops arrived under the 
city walls, they were stoutly repulsed by Garibaldi's 
volunteers. The news of this engagement opened 
the eyes of French liberals ; to mollify their exas- 
peration, Ferdinand De Lesseps was sent as ambas- 
sador to treat with the Italians and arrange an 
armistice. 

During this suspension of hostilities between 
France and Rome, the Austrians occupied the 
territory of Ferrara, advanced on Bologna and, 
descending by the Adriatic, took possession of 
Ancona, but here they were stopped by the French 
who wished to reserve to themselves the honour of 
reinstating the Pope in his dominions. Whilst Austria 
was advancing from the north, a body of Spanish 
troops made their appearance in the Pontine marshes, 
but these champions of the Christian faith, after 
traversing territory where no enemy was in sight 
and making almost a triumphal entry into the Fiumi- 
cino, without even encountering a gendarme^ 
returned home again, to boast of the wonderful ex- 
ploits they had achieved to the glory of God and of 
Spain. Ferdinand of Naples also directed his arms 
against the Roman Republic. Flushed with victory 
after his Sicilian successes, he now intended to in- 
gratiate himself with the Pontiff. Having passed the 



TEMPORAL POWER RE-ESTABLISHED IN ROME 20/ 

confines of the Papal States, he at length reached 
Velletri where he was driven back by the Roman 
troops : Garibaldi even crossed the frontier in pur- 
suit and, had he not been recalled by Roselli, the 
commander-in-chief, the Bourbon retreat might have 
proved a disastrous one. At all events, after this 
defeat, Ferdinand II. determined to leave an enter- 
prise fraught with so much difficulty, in other hands. 

Meantime, while these events were proceeding, 
Napoleon, having overridden the opposition of his 
government, had sent fresh reinforcements to General 
Oudinot. On the 3rd of June the armistice expired : 
that very day, one of the most memorable engagements 
of the campaign took place under the walls of Rome. 
Amongst the wounded in the Garibaldian ranks was 
the young poet, Goffredo Mameli who died a month 
later when his comrades were already on the way to 
exile. Luciano Manara, the valiant Lombard leader 
and Emilio Morosini both fell during this glorious 
struggle, and Giacomo Medici, the heroic defender of 
the house called the Vascello, also immortalised 
himself on this occasion. 

It was, however, an impossibility that those few 
thousand volunteers should hold their own against 
the overwhelming numbers of the French army. On 
the 2nd of July, the Roman assembly declared all 
resistance to be useless, and whilst the French were 
entering the city, the deputies proclaimed the 
republican constitution at an end. On the morrow, 
the hall of the assembly was closed, and Oudinot 
re-established the temporal power of the papacy in 
Rome. 



208 THE WAR OF 1 849 

Garibaldi, with four thousand men, had fully 
intended carrying on the war in the mountains, on 
his own account, but, pursued by the French in 
Latium and threatened by the Austrians in the 
Marches, saw his followers falling away ; he there- 
fore entered the territory of the San Marino Republic, 
where he formally dismissed his men. Three 
hundred, however, were anxious to accompany him 
to Venice whither he resolved to repair, to offer his 
help to that city — the last to resist Austria. This little 
company embarked at Cesenatico in thirteen fishing 
smacks, on a perfectly clear night, the moon lighting 
the flotilla on its way : but her rays, so often blessed 
by sailors, were on this occasion, fatal to the fugitives 
and made their movements visible to the Austrian 
vessels who gave chase and captured eight of the 
boats. Five succeeded in reaching the shore, near 
the mouth of the Po ; in one of these was Garibaldi 
with his courageous wife, Anita, who, although far 
advanced in pregnancy, had determined to be his 
companion in this perilous expedition. What terrible 
experiences were those of the hero at this juncture! 
Let his own words tell the simple yet moving story 
as he gives it to us in his Menwrie : — 

" My position in these dreadful moments can be 
better imagined than described. My unhappy wife 
was dying ! Seawards, the enemy was in pursuit, 
with that alacrity which means an easy victory, and 
before us was the prospect of landing on a coast that 
was probably infested, not only with our Austrian 
enemies, but with fiercely reactionary papal troops 
as well. At any rate, we reached the land. I took 




GIUSEPPE (5AR1BALDI. 



210 THE WAR OF 1 849 

my precious burden in my arms, disembarked and 
laid her on the shore. I told my companions — who 
mutely asked what they should do — each to set out 
in different directions, to seek a refuge wherever it 
might be found ; at all events, I bid them get away 
from the place where they then were, as the enemy's 
boats were likely to arrive at any moment. For me 
to proceed further was out of the question : I could 
not abandon my dying wife. 

" The men to whom I addressed myself were my 
cherished comrades, Ugo Bassi and Ciceruacchio 
with his two sons. Bassi said to me : ' I am going to 
look for some little cottage where I can change my 
breeches, these will certainly excite suspicion.' He 
was wearing red trousers, taken, I believe, from the 
corpse of a French soldier at Rome and given him 
by one of our men, days before, to replace his much- 
patched pair. Ciceruacchio bade me an affectionate 
farewell as he and his sons left me. Thus did these 
excellent men and I part, never to meet again. A 
few days later, Austrian cruelty sated its thirst for 
blood by the execution of these noble-minded men 
and thus vindicated its past fears. . . . 

" I remained near the sea, in a field of maize, with 
my Anita and my inseparable follower. Lieutenant 
Leggiero who had been with me in Switzerland the 
year before, after the affair at Morazzone. The last 
words of my heart's beloved were for her sons whom 
she felt she should never see again ! 

" We stayed for some time in the maize field, uncer- 
tain what to do with her. Finally, I told Leggiero 
to explore the neighbourhood, in order to discover 



ESCAPE OF GARIBALDI AND HIS WIFE 211 

some house in the vicinity, and with his wonted readi- 
ness he immediately set off to do so. I waited for some 
little time, but soon hearing footsteps approaching, 
emerged from my hiding-place, to see Leggiero with 
a man whom I immediately recognised with delight, 
for his presence was in itself a consolation to me. This 
was Colonel Nino Bonnet, one of my most distin- 
guished officers, wounded at Rome during the siege 
wherein he had lost a gallant brother ; he himself had 
gone home to be healed of his wounds. For me, 
nothing more fortunate than this meeting with my 
comrade-in-arms could have happened. He was a 
landowner in these parts and lived in the neighbour- 
hood ; thus it was that he had heard the cannonading, 
and foreseeing our arrival, had hastened to the sea- 
shore to find us and give us aid. Brave and 
intelligent, Bonnet risked great peril to himself in 
this search for us. Having once acquired such an 
auxiliary, I put myself entirely in his hands and thus 
we were saved. He at once proposed that we should 
repair to a little cabin near by, to procure some 
restorative for my unhappy wife. Thither we betook 
ourselves, supporting Anita between us, and with 
difficulty, reached a cottage whose poor inhabitants 
gave us some water — that first necessity of the 
suffering woman — I do not remember what else. 
From there we went to a house belonging to Bonnet's 
sister who showed us every kindness. On leaving 
her we crossed part of the valley of Comacchio in 
order to reach La Mandriola where a doctor was to 
be found. 

On our arrival at La Mandriola, Anita remained 



212 THE WAR OF 1 849 

lying on a mattress in the cart in which we had 
travelled. I then said to Doctor Zannini, who just 
then entered the house : ' try to save this lady.' He 
answered : ' Let us manage to put her into bed.' 
Then we four each took a corner of the mattress and 
carried her into an upstair room. When I placed my 
wife on the bed, I saw that death had already marked 
her for his own ; I felt for her pulse. ... it had 
ceased to beat ! Before me, a corpse, lay the mother 
of my children : directly they see me, I thought, 
they will ask for their mother. I wept bitterly for 
the loss of my Anita, for the woman who had been 
my constant companion in the most adventurous 
part of my life. I commended her remains for burial 
to the kind folk who surrounded me, and then at the 
request of the people of the house, whom I was 
compromising by my stay, quickly withdrew. I 
staggered on, ill-able to walk, in the direction of 
Sant' Alberto with a guide who took me to the house 
of a tailor, a poor but honest and kind-hearted man. 
Bonnet, to whom I admit, I owed my life, was but the 
first of a series of protectors, without whom I should 
never have been able to journey, as I actually did, for 
thirty-seven days, from the mouth of the Po to the 
Gulf of Sterbino where I embarked for Liguria." 



The clash of arms was now no longer heard in the 
peninsula, Venice alone excepted. When Piedmont 
resumed her struggle \\'ith xA.ustria in March, 1849, 
the renewal of hostilities was enthusiastically hailed 
by the Venetians who on the 22nd of that month had 



BLOCKADE OF VENICE BY AUSTRIANS 2l3 

celebrated with rejoicings the first anniversary of 
their hberation. The news of the disastrous issue of 
Novara, however, came all too quickly. Thereupon 
the victorious General liaynau announced the 
Piedmontese defeat and the conclusion of an armis- 
tice to Daniele Manin, and, at the same time, invited 
Venice to submit, without further ado, to the Austrian 
Emperor. Now comes one of the most stirring 
pages of this glorious record. The Republic could 
no longer hope for aid of any kind when, on the 2nd 
of April, the Venetian representatives met together in 
the Hall of the Great Council ; yet, in that famous 
session it was unanimously declared that Venice 
would resist to the uttermost. And, under the strong 
and capable sway of Daniele Manin, nobly did she 
redeem her word ! 

Then began the real blockade of Venice. The 
defence was restricted to the lagoon alone, from Tre 
Porti to Brondolo, whilst from the land side, the 
fortress of Malghera was made the centre of organised 
resistance. On the 4th of May, it was the object of a 
tremendous assault : the Austrians were so certain of 
success that Marshal Radetzky himself, with three of 
the young Austrian archdukes, came on the scene to 
assist in the capture of the stronghold : from the 
lofty tower of Mestre, they watched the strife that was 
being waged with such fury, whilst the Venetians, 
from the roofs and campanili of the city, looked on, 
full of anxiety, at the struggle which was to decide 
their fate. The cannonade lasted all day, but at 
last, the inhabitants of Venice could joyfully hail 
their defenders' victory. 



214 THE WAR OF 1 849 

The attack on the fortress was repeated on the 6th 
of May and on several following days, but all to 
no purpose. However, it was impossible that the 
defence of Malghera could be maintained for long ; 
what was left of its fabric threatened to give way, 
and the greater part of the garrison had now been 
killed. Orders were now given to the survivors in 
the fortress to retire into Venice itself: accordingly, 
on the night of the 26-27th of May, the defenders 
silently withdrew over the long bridge which connects 
the city with the mainland. Although some arches 
of the bridge were broken, in its central platform 
a battery was erected which was fiercely attacked 
by the Austrians, now occupying Malghera. Of 
what heroism were not those arches the scene ! 
There, on the central platform, Colonel Cesare 
Rossaroll died a hero's death ; there it was, too, that 
Enrico Cosenz acquired imperishable glory. The 
resistance was still obstinately maintained, in spite 
of the great scarcity of provisions and the Austrians' 
bombardment of the city — in the space of twenty- 
four days, twenty-three thousand projectiles fell into 
Venice : even then every summons to surrender was 
met by a sturdy refusal. On the ist of August, 
under the leadership of Sirtori, a sortie was made 
in the direction of Brondolo where two hundred 
head of cattle were taken ; thus, for some days, the 
wants of the now famishing citizens were provided 
for. 

Unhappily, to war and famine was now added 
the scourge of cholera. It can be easily understood 
how the fear of a terrible death exasperated the 



CAPITULA TION OF VENICE : PIEDMONT 2 1 5 

starving people — already the victims of so many 
woes — who, owing to the devastation of the rest 
of their city by bombs, were only able to find a third 
part of it habitable. All the rest was exposed to the 
enemy's fire, and the cholera spread to a frightful 
extent and numbered many victims. Then it was, 
and then only, that negotiations were opened with 
the enemy. Daniele Manin who had shown himself, 
throughout all calamities, great alike in heart and 
mind, reviewed the civic guard for the last time and 
uttered these memorable words — a just summary of 
his work — " You may perhaps say, ' This man has 
deceived himself,' but you can never say, ' He has 
deceived us.' " 

On the 22nd of August hostilities ceased, and on 
the 24th, the terms of capitulation were signed and 
Manin, Tommaseo, Pepe and many others retired 
as exiles to a foreign land. On the 30th, Radetzky 
made his solemn entry into Venice and went to St. 
Mark's to hear a Te Deum. 



In the complete ruin of Italian hopes, one state 
alone had not lost all and that was Piedmont. She 
had been defeated by Austria, but, to her own good 
fortune as well as to that of Italy, had preserved her 
Statute, a fact that redounded greatly to the credit 
of her king, Victor Emmanuel II. who had assumed, 
on the blood-stained field of Novara, the ancient 
crown of Savoy. 



XII 



THE BEGINNING OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II.'S REIGN. 



Victor Emmanuel was born at Turin on the 14th 
of March, 1820. The future maker of Italy first saw 
the hght in the very year in which the peninsula 
entered her earliest protest against the treaties of 1 8 1 5, 
and when the idea of an Italian RisoTginiento had 
already taken root in his father's mind. But under 
very gloomy conditions did Charles Albert's son 
ascend the throne — at a time when the first news of 
the rout at Novara had caused the deepest grief 
throughout the country. His very accession implied 
that hardest of all sacrifices — that of accepting with 
resignation the position of the vanquished. 

On the 24th of March, 1849, Victor Emmanuel, 
with a scanty entourage, went to treat in person with 
Radetzky at a place called Vignale, near Novara. 
On the abdication of Charles Albert, Radetzky had 
hoped that the nationalist predilections of Piedmont 
were done with for ever, and that constitutional liberty 
and the tricoloured flag had disappeared from the 
country for good with the carriage that had taken its 
monarch into exile— a hope further confirmed by the 




VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 



2l8 BEGINNING OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II.' S REIGN 

fact of the new King having married Marie Adelaide, 
daughter of the Austrian Archduke Reinier. Radetzky, 
who had been on very friendly terms with Reinier 
and had been present at the birth of the princess 
Adelaide, received the young King with much 
enipressement^ and held out to him the prospect of 
an aggrandisement of his territories if he would 
re-establish absolutism and once more hoist the 
ancient blue banner of Savoy. But the new ruler 
of Piedmont resolutely answered that the House of 
Savoy always kept its plighted word : under stress 
of dire necessity, he signed the hard conditions of the 
armistice and then repaired to Turin to swear fidelity 
to the Statute. 

Although Victor Emmanuel afterwards enjoyed so 
much popularity, he ascended the throne amid general 
discontent ; indeed he was popularly supposed to 
side with Austria — a belief attested by an unknown 
handwriting on the walls of the palace in Turin : 
"It is all up with us : we have a German king and 
queen." In fact, an insurrection actually broke out 
against him. The republican party believed this 
to be an opportune moment to attempt a coup at 
Genoa where the memory of republican traditions had 
always been cherished. A rumour spread that the 
city was to have been occupied by Austrian troops, 
and efforts were made to reawaken the ancient 
animosity of Liguria against Piedmont. On the 
29th of March, 1849, Genoa revolted, but, early 
in April, General Alfonso La Marmora arrived on- 
the scene with a body of troops and, by energetic 
efforts, succeeded in quelling sedition. 



PIEDMONT TREATS FOR PEACE 219 

In those days reaction was triumphing everywhere, 
not only in the Italian peninsula, but throughout the 
continent of Europe — in fact, the constitutions, wher- 
ever granted in 1848, had been suppressed. Victor 
Emmanuel also could, by a coup d'etat, have easily 
re-established absolute government ; indeed, he was 
strongly incited to such a step by nearly all the 
Powers, but happily he knew how to resist the temp- 
tation. The better to signalise the direction he 
intended Piedmontese policy to take, he chose for 
the head of the ministry, Massimo D'Azeglio — a 
man distinguished both for his loyalty and patriotism, 
who well and aptly embodied the constantly-pur- 
sued aim of his nation in the famous words : " Let 
us begin again from the beginning and we will do 
better." 

In the meantime, it was felt that the armistice with 
Austria could not last for ever ; one of two things 
had to be decided on — a resumption of arms or the 
conclusion of peace. The first alternative was im- 
possible, considering the state not only of Piedmont, 
but of the whole of Italy at that time. Negotia- 
tions were therefore propounded which, in spite of 
being long drawn out and beset with difficulties, 
resulted in the treaty of August 6, 1849, by which 
the Piedmontese were mulcted of a war indemnity 
of seventy-five million francs. 

This treaty had to be ratified by the national 

parliament. In the memorable discussion which 

. followed, Cesare Balbo, who had sent five sons to the 

war of independence and lost one on the heroic field 

of Novara, took a prominent part. Balbo main- 



220 BEGIXXING OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. S REIGN 

tained that silent approval of the peace-terms would 
have been the most dignified course to pursue, but his 
proposal did not commend itself to the majority who 
wished to withhold their approbation of the treaty. 
Anxious days were those for the King and ministers 
who were all jealous for their country's honour, but 
well aware that any fresh attempt to try their 
strength with Austria would be futile. 

Then the King, following Massimo D'Azeglio's 
advice, dissolved the Chamber and, convening 
another, issued the following manifesto (November 
20, 1849) which, from the name of the place where 
it received the royal signature, was called the 
' Proclamation of Moncalieri ' : 

" With all due allowance for the gravity of the 
present situation, the loyalty which, up till now, I 
think I have shown in word and deed, ought to be 
sufficient to dispel uncertainty from all minds. I 
feel, notwithstanding, the desire, if not the necessity, 
of addressing a few words to my people, which may 
be a fresh pledge of confidence and, at the same 
time, the expression of truth and justice. 

" The liberties of the country run no risk of being 
imperilled through the dissolution of the Chamber of 
Deputies, for they are protected by the venerated 
memory of my father. King Charles Albert ; they 
are entrusted to the honour of the House of Savoy ; 
they are guarded by the solemnity of my own oath : 
who would dare to have any fear for them ? 

"Before assembling Parliament, I spoke frankly to 
the nation, above all, to the electors. In my pro- 
clamation of the 3rd of July, 1849, I advised the 




MASSIMO D AZEGLIO. 



222 BEGINNING OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. S REIGN 

latter to be guided by such rules of action as should 
not render the observance of the Statute impossible. 
But only little more than a third of them took part 
in the elections : the remainder neglected that right, 
which is as well a bounden duty incumbent on every 
citizen in a free state. I had fulfilled my functions : 
why did they not perform theirs? 

" In my speech from the throne I made known — 
and such manifestation was only too necessary — the 
deplorable condition of the kingdom. I set forth the 
obligation of observing a truce in all party passion and 
of promptly solving the vital questions that affected 
the public weal. My utterances were inspired by the 
most genuine patriotism and the purest loyalty ; 
what fruit did they bear? The very first acts of 
the Chamber were hostile to the Crown when the 
former exercised one of its rights. But if I had 
forgotten, the Chamber ought not to have done so 

" I say nothing of the unreasonably violent 
resistance maintained by the Opposition against the 
policy which my ministers were loyally pursuing and 
which, under the circumstances, was the only one 
possible ; I pass over in silence the attacks made on 
that prerogative which the law of the State allows 
me, but I can with reason call the Chamber to strict 
account for its late action and can safely appeal there- 
from to the judgment of Italy and of Europe alike. 

" I have signed an honourable and b\'-no-means- 
damaging treaty with Austria: this I did for the 
public good. The honour of my country, as w^ell as 
the sanctity of m}^ oath, both demand that I should 
comply with that treat}-, without cavilling or deceit. 



THE KING APPEALS TO THE NATION 223 

My ministers have asked for the assent of the 
Chamber to the same, which body, by making such 
assent conditional, rendered it impossible of accep- 
tance, since it would have destroyed the reciprocal 
interdependence of the three Powers in the kingdom, 
and thus have violated the Statute. I have sworn 
to preserve justice and the rightful liberty of every 
individual in the State, as I have promised to save the 
nation from the tyranny of party, whatever be its 
name, its aim, or the rank of the men who compose it. 
This promise and these oaths I keep by dissolving 
a Chamber that had become an anomaly, and by 
immediately convoking another, but if the country 
and the electors refuse me their support, not on me 
will fall the responsibility of the future, and in the 
disorders which will ensue, they will not have me, 
but themselves, to blame. 

" If I find it my duty on this occasion, to express 
myself in somewhat severe terms, I trust that my 
subjects' good sense and instincts of justice will 
enable them to feel that what I have said is inspired 
by the love I bear them and by my devotion to their 
own best interests — both of which are confirmed by 
my fixed intention to maintain and defend the 
liberties of my people, alike from enemies without 
as from those within. Up till this time, the House 
of Savoy has never appealed in vain to the loyalty, 
the good sense and the affection of its supporters. I 
have, therefore, a full right to trust them in this 
present crisis, and to take it for granted that, united, 
we shall be able to preserve the Statute and save our 
country from the perils b}' which she is threatened." 



224 BEGIXAUXG OF VICTOR EMMANUEL Il!s REIGN 

This manifesto made a deep impression on those 
to whom it was addressed, and was judged from 
various points of view. It was certainly a bold 
stroke, since it placed the King in opposition to 
the Chamber, and invited the electors frankly to 
declare their sympathies : if the elections were to go 
against the King, it would necessarily imply a coup 
d'etat. But in forming an estimate of this proclamation, 
it must be remembered that it bore, besides the King's 
signature, that of Massimo D'Azegiio, well known to 
be a steadfast and sincere champion of liberal ideas, 
and that it was addressed to that Piedmontese 
population which had, at all times, given proof of 
their sagacity at the most serious crises, as well as 
of their reverence and affection for the dynasty of 
Savoy. Once more their good sense saved the 
nation : the King's representations gained a respect- 
ful hearing, and deputies were returned to the 
Chamber, who gave unqualified assent to the peace 
treaty. 

Then Massimo D'Azegiio set about reorganising 
the internal affairs of the kingdom, following therein 
a distinctly liberal policy. In 1850, Count Siccardi, 
minister of Justice, initiated legislation for the 
abolition of the ecclesiastical court — that relic of 
mecliaivalism which was, in the e}'es of the law, an 
obstacle to general equality. This gave great pro- 
vocation to Rome : in the pulpit, the press, even in 
the confessional itself, clerical o])position was mani- 
fested to Siccardi's motion. But the latter was 
carried notwithstanding, and the Bishops of Turin 
and Cagliari, who wished to hinder its enforcement, 




S o 



z V 



226 BEGINNING OF VICTOR EMMANUEL Il!s REIGN 

were sent into exile. The exasperation of the 
intransigent clergy affected even the last moments 
of the dying. In the same year (1850) Count Pietro 
Di Santarosa, minister of Commerce and Agriculture, 
being in extremis, asked for the consolations of 
religion : the ecclesiastics around his death-bed in- 
sisted that he should first of all signify his disappro- 
bation of the Siccardi law ; although a highly religious 
man, Santarosa refused to do so, and was actually 
denied the last Sacraments, in consequence. 

Count Camillo Benso Di Cavour, editor of the 
Risorginiento, who had already acquired great 
authority in the Chamber, was called to fill the 
post of Santarosa. From being minister of Agricul- 
ture, he quickly became minister of Finance and was 
not long in demonstrating his distinct superiority 
over his colleagues. In the meantime, the Pied- 
montese government continued to assume a more and 
more Italian and liberal tendency, whilst the King 
turned his attention to the army, a work in which 
he found a valuable coadjutor in General Alfonso la 
Marmora, now made minister of War. 

* 
* * 

The glorious spectacle of disciplined freedom which 
Piedmont now presented to the world, displeased the 
other Italian princes who drew, so to speak, a kind 
of sanitary cordon round their states, so that these 
might not be affected by the contagion of liberalism. 
Ferdinand II. of Naples concentrated all his thoughts 
on arrests and condemnations : consequently, the 
most cultivated and virtuous men who, under a 



GLADSTONE AND THE BOURBON GOVERNMENT 22/ 

decent government, would have been the pride of 
the nation, filled his prisons, obliged to drag out 
their existence in company with the most depraved 
criminals. 

William Ewart Gladstone, who was at Naples 
during these political trials, was so indignant at the 
sight of such tyranny, that, although only lately 
arrived there, he hastened to shake the dust of the 
city off his feet, instead of awaiting his turn for the 
royal audience he had desired, so much did he now 
loathe the idea of facing such a king. On the nth 
of July, 185 1, after his return to England, he published 
the first of his letters addressed to Lord Aberdeen — 
the then English premier — respecting the condition of 
the kingdom of Naples. He declares the conduct of 
the Bourbon government " an outrage upon religion, 
upon civilisation, upon humanity and upon decency." 
" Since," he adds, " it is not mere imperfection, not 
corruption in low quarters, not occasional severity, 
that I am about to describe : it is incessant, syste- 
matic, deliberate violation of the law by the Power 
appointed to watch over and maintain it. It is such 
violation of human and written law as this, carried on 
for the purpose of violating every other law, unwritten 
and eternal, human and divine ; it is the wholesale 
prosecution of virtue when united with intelligence 
operating upon such a scale, that entire classes may 
with truth be said to be its object. I have seen and 
heard the strong, and too true, expression used : 
' This is the negation of God created into a system 
of government.' " 

In this letter, Gladstone examines in detail, and 



228 BEGINNING OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II.'s REIGN 

makes a judicial, concise and thorough investigation 
of, the wretched condition of the kingdom of Naples. 
Speaking of the number of those imprisoned for 
political offences, he says : " I believe that twenty 
thousand is no unreasonable estimate for the whole 
country. For months, or for a year, or for two years 
or three, as the case may be, these prisoners are 
detained before their trials, but very generally for the 
longer terms. I do not happen to have heard of any 
one tried at Naples on a political charge, in these 
last times, with less than sixteen or eighteen months 
of previous imprisonment. I have seen men still 
waiting, who have been confined for six-and-twenty 
months, and this confinement, as I have said, began 
by an act not of law, but of force in defiance of 
law. . . . 

" I do not scruple to assert in continuation that, when 
every effort has been used to concoct a charge, if 
possible, out of the perversion and partial production 
of real evidence, this often fails, and then the resort 
is had to perjury and to forgery. The miserable 
creatures to be found in most communities, but 
especially in those where the government is the great 
agent of corruption upon the people, the wretches 
who are ready to sell the life and liberty of fellow- 
subjects for gold, and to throw their own souls 
into the bargain, are deliberately employed by the 
Executive Power to depose according to their inven- 
tions against the man whom it is thought desirable to 
ruin." 

His calm, controlled reasoning gives place to a 
passion of indignation, when he tells of Carlo Pocrio, 



EFFECT OF GLADSTONE S LETTER 229 

and of the iniquitous treatment and tortures inflicted 
on this distinguished man who was a strenuous sup- 
porter of the constitutional cause. " I must say, after 
a pretty full examination of the case, that the con- 
demnation of such a man for treason is a proceeding 
just as much conformable to the laws of truth, justice, 
decency and fair play and to the common sense of 
the community, in fact, as great and gross an outrage 
on them all, as would be a like condemnation in this 
country of any of our best-known public men. Lord 
Russell or Lord Lansdowne, or Sir James Graham or 
yourself" 

The moral effect of this letter, by which an ordinary 
citizen threw down the gauntlet to a despotic monarch, 
was wide and far-reaching. Many Italian patriots 
printed pamphlets expressive of gratitude to the 
great English statesman. The Bourbon government, 
on the other hand, tried to neutralise the consequences 
of the Gladstonian manifesto — so disastrous to them- 
selves — by publishing an official response in which, 
however, not a hundredth part of the accusations were 
refuted. Then it was that, resuming his pen to clinch 
his indictment, Gladstone assumed the full responsi- 
bility thereof: " Launched on the twentieth year of 
my public life, with my lot cast in a stirring country 
and in a stirring time, I cannot plead the character 
of a novice in excuse or palliation of my temerity. 
Neither can I throw the smallest fraction of my 
responsibility for the measure of publication, at the 
time and under the circumstances when it took place, 
on any other person. I very well knew that, on the 
general truth of my charges, 1 was staking my own 



230 nEGIXNING OF VICTOR EMMANUEL I/.'s REIGN 

character which, though httle in itself, is much to 
me." Such were the brave and heroic words which 
that noble man, secure in the integrity of his own 
conscience, penned in the interests of truth and justice. 



The condition of the rest of Italy was at this epoch 
indeed deplorable. In the Pontifical States, Pius IX. 
had put himself completely into the hands of the 
reactionary cardinals ; Tuscany could now consider 
herself annexed to the dominions of Austria ; at 
Modena, Francis V. faithfulh' followed in his pre- 
decessor's footsteps ; at Parma, Charles III., who had 
succeeded his father, Charles Ludovic of Bourbon in 
1849, was a good type of a mediaeval tyrant, arbi- 
trary, dissolute, ignorant and vicious. 

In Lombardy and Venetia, Austria now knew that 
she was hated and did her best to deserve the odium: 
at Milan, by the orders of the police, even some women 
were flogged. The people detested the sight of the 
white Austrian uniforms, and many of them began to 
fix their hopes on Piedmont. By others, the Mazzini 
ideal was yet kept alive, in spite of the continued 
Austrian policy of arrests and executions. Among 
the martyrs of that epoch, the workman, Sciesa — con- 
demned to death for having affixed a revolutionary 
placard at a street corner — merits special mention ; on 
the way to the scaffold, he was offered his liberty if 
he would but reveal the name of the person who 
had given him the manifesto, but he calmly replied : 
" Let us proceed," and boldly marched to meet his 
fate. A very widespread plot had been organised in 



PROSECUTIONS AT MANTUA: CAVOUR S PROTEST 23 1 

Lombardy and Venetia in 1851 ; some of the con- 
spirators even imagined they could succeed in making 
the Emperor a prisoner during one of his journeys 
to Venice. This association became daily more and 
more enlarged ; by chance, the police arrested one 
of the members and, by degrees, succeeded in dis- 
covering the whole plot. Then at Mantua, sinister 
proceedings were set on foot. On the 7th of December, 
1852, the priest, Enrico Tazzoli, the physician, Carlo 
Poma, Angelo Scarsellini, Bernardo Canal and Gio- 
vanni Zambelli mounted the scaffold, and shortly after- 
wards, among other distinguished Lombardo- Venetian 
citizens, the priest, Bartolomeo Grazioli, Count Carlo 
Montanari and Tito Speri died by the hand of the 
executioner, whilst others, like Finzi and Cavalletto, 
went to help tenant the prisons of Moravia. 

Although these sanguinary measures had robbed 
the field of action of its revolutionary chiefs, a 
hundred Milanese inhabitants resorted to a bold 
coup and on the 6th of February, 1853, attacked and 
killed some Austrian sentinels, but soon afterwards 
were made prisoners, and sixteen of their number 
were hanged. 

In view of these facts, Austria sequestrated the 
goods of the Lombardo- Venetian emigrants, nearly all 
refugees in Piedmont, under the pretence that the 
latter had instigated these risings. Cavour who had 
now become president of the King of Sardinia's 
ministry, protested in an emphatic Meinoranduin, 
against this abuse of power by Austria and main- 
tained that a properly-constituted government should, 
before condemning the emigrants, have formally 



232 BEGINNIXG OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. S REIGN 

proved their complicity in the offence. He then 
caused parliament to vote a sum of money for the 
succour of the victims of spoliation, and thus more 
and more confirmed the identification of Piedmontese 
with Italian interests. 

In Parma, Duke Charles III. had restored the most 
infamous system of government imaginable ; in that 
small province, in the space of four years alone, more 
than three hundred persons had suffered the punish- 
ment of the bastinado. On the 26th of March, 1854, 
Charles III. whilst returning through the city to his 
palace in broad daylight, accompanied by an officer, 
was stabbed by a man wrapped in a mantle, who 
immediately effected his escape. All Parma, it 
may be fairly said, knew the name of the assassin 
— who was only intent on avenging a personal injury 
— but no one would reveal it, so greatly was the 
sense of right and wrong distorted by hatred of the 
murdered prince. His widow, Marie Louise of 
Bourbon, sister of the Duke De Chambord, who, 
as a wife had met with the most brutal treatment, 
now assumed the regency in the name of her son 
Robert, and announced her husband's death to her 
subjects by a proclamation commencing : " It having 
pleased Almighty God to call to Himself our well- 
beloved Consort," &c. Every one, in short, felt as 
if a great incubus had been removed from off the 
state, but though more humane counsels now pre- 
vailed in the Parmese government, Austria continued 
to domineer as before. 



XIII 



THE STAR OF TIEDMONT 



ViNCENZO GlOBERTi who had been, as it were, 
the prophet of the revolution of 1848, had retired to 
Paris and there, in 185 1, he published a book, en- 
titled Del Rinnovanicnto Civile U Italia, wherein he 
pointed out the blunders made by Italians — and also 
by himself — in 1 848 and 1 849, and designated Pied- 
mont as the leader of the national movement for the 
regeneration of Ital}', with its centre in a lay and 
constitutional Rome. The author soon after died 
(October 16, 1852), just at the time when the direc- 
tion of the government had passed into the strong, 
bold grasp of Count Cavour — the statesman who 
knew how to realise in fact, the ideal of which 
Gioberti had only dreamed. 

Cavour began his work by giving a vigorous im- 
pulse to Piedmontese life : railways and telegraph 
wires soon intersected the country in all directions, 
and industry and commerce attained a remarkable 
development, whilst the government actively promoted 
all such practical efforts ; in fact, Piedmont succeeded 
both in repairing the damage done by the late wars, 

2.« 



234' THE STAR OF PIEDMONT 

and in attaining both wealth and prosperity. At the 
same time, Cavour courageously maintained the in- 
dependence of the civil, as opposed to the ecclesias- 
tical power, and caused several religious communities 
to be suppressed, nor did he omit cordially to affirm, 
on every possible occasion, unmistakably nationalist 
sentiments. Hence relations with Austria became 
more and more strained, but so long as Piedmont 
remained an isolated state, the renewal of the cam- 
paign was an impossibility. 

It was the Crimean war which furnished an oppor- 
tunity for Piedmont to assert herself among the 
European nations. England and France had invited 
Austria to take part in the contest, but their over- 
tures were not received in so favourable a manner as 
they had hoped for. Cavour thought that, by inter- 
vening in such a momentous question, his country 
would acquire a distinct importance among the 
Powers and in spite of many difficulties, he suc- 
ceeded in effecting a treaty of alliance with England 
and France (January lO, 1855), whereby fifteen thou- 
sand Piedmontese troops were guaranteed for the 
Crimea. 

This treaty, however, provoked opposition in the 
Turin parliament, for it was difficult to make the 
deputies understand how participation in a distant 
campaign could profit the national cause. However, 
the clear and convincing words of Cavour were suc- 
cessful in persuading parliament to approve of the 
stipulated alliance, and fifteen thousand Piedmontese 
troops, under the command of Alfonso La Marmora, 
set out for the Crimea, and on the far-off banks of the 




CAMILLO CAVOUR. 



236 THE STAR OF PIEDMONT 

Tchernaya (August 16, 1855), redeemed their ancient 
and glorious flag from the shame of Novara. 

Just at this time heavy domestic trials afflicted 
Victor Emmanuel : his mother, Maria Theresa, his 
wife, Adelaide, and his brother, Ferdinand, Duke of 
Genoa, all died within the space of a month. It was 
an occasion of deep mourning both for him and for 
the nation which, drvested of its former suspicions, 
was now warmly attached to its monarch. The clerical 
party tried to make capital out of these misfortunes, 
by saying that it was a judgment from Heaven on 
the King for having assented to the recent laws 
respecting the suppression of religious communities 
and consequently he was loaded with reproaches 
which- caused him much anguish of mind, but finally 
his own strength of character reasserted itself. Victor 
Emmanuel was later enabled to pay a visit to his 
new allies, and both in Paris and London was received 
by rulers and people with cordial demonstrations of 
regard. 

At the Congress, held at Paris in 1856, for the 
ratification of a peace-treaty, Piedmont was repre- 
sented by Count Cavour who induced the plenipo- 
tentiaries of England and France to moot the Italian 
question at one of their sessions. Accordingly, after 
the terms of peace had been discussed, the French 
minister, Walewski, explained that for the due con- 
solidation of the work they had finished, it was 
necessary that preventive measures should be taken 
against contingent complications which might arise 
and — in this connection — pointed out the abnormal 
condition of affairs in the Papal States, severely cen- 



THE ITALIAN QUESTION AT THE PARIS CONGRESS 2^,7 

SLiring, at the same time, the NeapoHtan government. 
Then it was the turn of the EngHsh minister, Lord 
Clarendon, to inveigh against the pontifical rule and 
denounce it as a scandal to Europe. In his opinion 
— such was the tenor of his speech — a substitution of 
ecclesiastical for lay government in the Legations, at 
any rate, with separate administrations and tribunals 
as well as native militia, ought to be recommended in 
order to mitigate the wretched condition of the Papal 
States and modify the existing regime. As regarded 
the kingdom of Naples, he argued that, since the 
representatives of the different governments in the 
Congress were all fully agreed in desiring the main- 
tenance of monarchical, and in the condemnation 
of revolutionary, principles, they ought to protest 
strongly against a system which served rather to 
nourish the tendencies of revolt in the heart of a 
people than to effect the Extinction of such feelings. 
He admitted the hope of the Congress that the peace 
of Europe might be undisturbed, but since no peace 
was possible without justice, it was, he asserted, its 
duty to intimate to the King of Naples that the 
Powers desired him to ameliorate his system of 
administration and to grant an amnesty to political 
prisoners. 

The Austrian plenipotentiaries declared they had 
been neither ordered nor empowered to treat the 
Italian question, and Cavour could not do less than 
recognise their inability to discuss matters not men- 
tioned in their formally-received instructions. He 
asserted, however, that he felt it his duty to emphasise 
the precarious position of Piedmont : he pointed out 



238 THE STAR OF PIEDMONT 

how, on the one hand, she was surrounded, throughout 
the peninsula, by populations in a chronic ferment of 
revolution owing to the obscurantist and violent action 
of bad governments, and how, on the other, she was 
menaced by Austria who, after having been employed 
by the rulers of the minor Italian provinces to re- 
duce their subjects to obedience, had assumed the 
military occupation of the greater part of Italy — an 
occupation which, extending to Ancona on the one 
side and to Piacenza on the other, was effectually 
destroying the political balance of power in the 
various states. The assembly became quite excited, 
and, before dispersing, voiced a declaration to the 
effect that the plenipotentiaries of France and Austria 
were agreed in desiring that the Austrian and French 
garrisons might leave the Roman territories as 
soon as possible, without prejudice to the pontifical 
authority, and that the majority of the representatives 
assembled recognised the advisability of a more 
lenient and clement regime being adopted by the 
Italian governments, more especially by that of the 
Two Sicilies. 

On leaving Paris, Cavour put into the hands of Lord 
Clarendon and Count Walewski a memorial in which, 
after noting the fact that Austrian opposition had 
hindered any practical redress of the grievances of 
Italy, he drew the attention of England and France 
to the dangers which beset the kingdom of Sardinia 
— that kingdom which, alone among the Italian states, 
had raised an insurmountable barrier to the revolu- 
tionary spirit, had kept independent of Austria, and 
had been as well a counterpoise to the latter's in- 



REl'OLTS IN KINGDOM OF NAPLES 239 

vading influence. After this, the ItaHan question 
could no longer be regarded as the dream of a few 
demagogues, since it had been forced on the atten- 
tion of the Powers of Europe in a congress of 
diplomatists. It was a great moral success which 
caused the name of Cavour to be respected through- 
out the peninsula, and the man himself to be hailed 
as the direct inspirer of the nationalist movement. 

That corner of Italy over which the tricoloured 
standard still floated became the pole-star of Italian 
patriots, and many republicans, like Manin — who 
with Garibaldi, Pallavicino and La Farina, took for 
a watchword, " Italy and Victor Emmanuel " — now 
rallied round the Piedmontese standard. The exiles 
from other states in the peninsula found a new mother- 
land in Piedmont where they could obtain, not only 
employment and scope for propaganda, but seats in 
parliament as well. Thus it was that Turin was the 
birth-place, as it were, of Italian unity. 

Some of Mazzini's adherents, however, hoped to 
forward their country's cause by plots which were 
specially directed against the King of Naples, as pre- 
eminently the worst of the rulers. Such was the state 
of affairs in this kingdom that insurrections became 
so to speak, a permanent institution. In the Novem- 
ber of 1856, Baron Francesco Bentivegna attempted 
to organise a revolt among the population of Ter- 
mini in Sicil)', but his bands were broken up and 
he, with other leaders, was shot. It was at this 
time, too, that a soldier, Agesilao Milano, inflicted a 
bayonet wound on King Ferdinand, whilst the latter 
was reviewing his troops in the Piazza d'Armi at 



240 THE STAR OF PIEDMONT 

Naples. A few months after, a group of patriots, 
having left Genoa on the steamer Cagliari, bound for 
Tunis, compelled the captain, on reaching the open 
sea, to change his course and to head for the Nea- 
politan coast ; they then liberated the prisoners con- 
fined on the isle of Ponza, and disembarked at Sapri in 
the province of Salerno. The rumour spread by the 
government authorities, that the new-comers were 
brigands, gained credence with the ignorant popula- 
tion who, instead of helping the revolutionists, joined 
the Bourbon police. Several skirmishes took place, 
in the last of which, at Padula, nearly all the insur- 
gents, after an heroic resistance, were either killed or 
wounded : Carlo Pisacane, their commander, died a 
glorious death, wrapped in the folds of the tricolour, 
whilst the wounded, including Giovanni Nicotera, 
were condemned to the Bourbon prisons. 

The result of these ill-fated risings proved, only too 
well, the impossibility of hoping for success from such 
movements, and Piedmont appeared more than ever 
as the one beacon-light which shed its rays on the 
dark future. 

The discussions at the Paris Congress, and the ever- 
growing prestige that the Sardinian kingdom was 
acquiring in public opinion throughout Europe, 
caused Austria some disquietude ; the empire which 
had twice, through superiority in arms and numbers, 
discomfited the little Italian state, now began to feel 
uneasy in face of the latter's success in conciliating 
universal sympathy. 

Up till now, Austria had exercised a policy of 
repression in the Lombardo-Venetian States and 



T A cries AV LOMBARDO-VENETIAN STATES 2\l 

had been repaid with a hatred so intense that it was 
to be read in every glance and heard in every word 
of the inhabitants, and seemed to rear, as it were, a 
brazen wall of severance between the governors and 
governed. The beginning of 1857 was, however, 
deemed a favourable time by the conqueror for 
change of regime in Lombardy and Venetia. The 
Emperor of Austria now granted an amnesty to 
political prisoners, and visited Venice and Milan in 
person ; he then nominated, as governor of the 
subject-provinces, his brother, Maximilian, a noble- 
minded man who did his best to merit the good-will 
of the population. But this change of tactics did not 
serve to alter the tendency of opinions in the Lom- 
bardo- Venetian States, and Manin clearly expressed 
the feelings of his countrymen when he wrote from 
Paris : " We do not ask for Austria to become more 
humane, we want her to go away altogether." ^ 

The same day on which the Emperor Francis 
Joseph had entered Milan, the municipality of Turin 
awarded a commanding site on the Piazza Castello, 
for the monument which the Milanese were dedi- 
cating to the Sardinian army. The gift of this 
monument and its public exhibition in Turin so 
enraged the Austrian government that it recalled its 
representative from the capital, and thus broke off 
diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

Piedmont consequently assumed, from day to day, 

' Daniele Manin died in exile at Paris in ihe same year, 1S57 : ten 
years afterwards, his remains were transported to Venice and found a 
last resting-place just without the northern side of the Church of St. 
Mark. 

1*7 



242 THE STAR OF PIEDMONT 

a more combative attitude, fortified the citadel of 
Alessandria, enlarged the arsenal of Spezia and 
strengthened her connection with France. Cavour 
had succeeded in impressing on Napoleon III. the 
necessity of blotting out the memory of the French 
expedition against the Roman Republic in 1849, b}' 
some overt friendly act. The attempt made by the 
Italian, Felice Orsini, in January, 1858, on the life of 
the French ruler might have been deemed likely to 
neutralise the latter's good disposition towards the 
peninsula, but the fact of Napoleon permitting the 
publication of the letter, in which Orsini begged him 
to remember Italy, was taken as a good omen of the 
Fmperor's still unshaken amity. 

Meanwhile, in order to sway public opinion yet 
further in Piedmont's favour, Cavour, in his speech 
in the Chamber, April 16, 1858, plainly stated the 
political aims of his country after 1849: 

" After the defeat of Novara and the peace of 
Milan, two lines of policy were open to us. By 
bowing to an adverse fate, we might have renounced, 
once and for all, the aspirations which dominated the 
latter years of our magnanimous monarch, Charles 
Albert ; enclosed within our own borders, we might 
have shut our eyes to what was passing beyond the 
Ticino and the Magra ; we might have exclusivel)' 
devoted ourselves to our nation's moral and material 
welfare ; it had even been possible to us, in a certain 
sense, to have adopted and acted on the principles in 
vogue before 1848 — those principles so lucidly set 
forth by the deputy. Count Delia Margherita, in his 
Meniorandiiin — or we misjht have fallen back on that 



C A FOUR STATES PIEDMOA'T S POLICY 243 

most prudent of all policies — a policy which only 
concerns itself with internal affairs. . . . The other 
system, on the contrary, lay in the acceptance of 
realised facts, in adapting ourselves to the exacting 
conditions of the times, but in preserving, the while, the 
faith which had inspired the noble exploits of Charles 
Albert. . . . Thefirst of these systems certainly offered 
numerous and signal advantages ; its adoption would 
have signally mitigated the serious consequences of the 
late war of 1848-49, the finances would have been set 
on a more prosperous footing and the people exempted 
from many new taxes. But the pursuit of such a 
policy meant an absolute renunciation of all ideals 
for the future, and entailed the abandonment of the 
glorious traditions of the House of Savoy as well as 
a repudiation of that melancholy but magnificent 
heritage bequeathed us by King Charles x'Vlbert. His 
generous son could not hesitate ; difficult as it might 
be, he chose the second alternative. ... If the latter 
system had good results, it had likewise momentous 
issues ; it was not, and it is not free from perils. 
In fact, gentlemen, it was impossible for us either to 
preserve our fidelity to King Charles Albert's prin- 
ciples or to desire the maintenance of a liberal and 
Italian policy, without provoking the resentment of 
those Powers whose interests in Italy clash with our 
own. ... I do not blink the fact that this conduces 
to a serious state of affairs — a state of affairs which 
ought to afford matter for grave reflection to ruler 
and to people alike. 

" In truth, gentlemen, when we come to confront 
our forces with those of the Powers to whom I have 



244 ^^-^ STAR OF PIEDMONT 

just alluded, we cannot for one instant pretend that 
our own position is devoid of danger. . . . How shall 
we escape such perils, how shall we provide against 
them ? We have tried to solve this question by a 
system of alliances, by seeking to form, maintain and 
extend confederacies with western Powers who have 
in Italy no interests contrary to our own. ... If 
political difficulties are discussed by means of diplo- 
macy, notes, protocols, memoranda and legal argu- 
ments, they are finally decided on the field of action, 
by the battalions or fleets of one or the other power. 
Even then, fortune is not always on the side of 
justice ; as in the days of Frederic the Great, she 
befriends the largest armies : thus, when a nation 
cannot command big squadrons of her own, she 
ought to try and supply her deficiency by gaining 
the support of those belonging to her friends and 
allies." 

In the summer of this year (1858) Napoleon III. 
and Cavour met at Plombieres, and drew up the 
basis of an alliance between France and Piedmont. 
On his return to Italy, the minister sent for Garibaldi 
and warned him to hold himself in readiness. The 
decisive hour was approaching : all Italy foresaw it 
and hastened thereto full of ardent anticipations ; 
Mercantini could now set about writing his Inno 
Di Garibaldi : — 



" Si scopron le tombe, si levano i morti. 
I martiri nostri son tutti nsorti ! 
Le spade nel pugno, gli allori alle chiome, 
La fiamma ed il nome d'ltalia sul cor 
Veniamo ! Veniamo, su, o giovani schiere, 



A CALL TO ARMS 



245 



Su al vento per tutto le nostre bandiere 

Su tutti col ferro, su Uitti col foco, 

Su tutti col foco d'ltalia nel cor. 

Va fuora cl'Italia, va fuora, che e I'ora, 
Va fuora d'ltalia, va fuora, o stranier ! " 

(The dead have arisen, the graves are reft wide, 
Our own beloved martyrs are all at our side, 
With swords in their hands and their laurel- crowns won, 
Whilst their hearts are on fire with Italia's name. 
O hasten, O hasten, ye youthful and brave, 
To where the tricolour above you doth wave, 
With fire in your hearts and your blades girded on. 
And your souls with a noble desire all aflame. 
Begone from our Italy's borders, ye strangers. 
And free be our country from all foreign rangers !) 




XIV 



THE WAR OF l8S9 



On the 1st of January, 1859, at a reception of the 
corps diplomatique, Napoleon III., turning to the 
Austrian ambassador, uttered these memorable 
words : " Je regrette que les relations entre nous 
soient si mauvaises ; dites cependant a votre sou- 
verain que mes sentiments pour lui ne sont pas 
changes." (" I regret that the relations between us 
are so strained ; however, make known to your 
sovereign that m}' feelings for him remain un- 
changed.") The ambassadors present hastened to 
report this remark to their respective courts, and 
needless to say, all Europe was impressed ac- 
cordingly. 

Great was the sensation made by Victor Em- 
manuel's speech at the reopening of parliament, in 
the Madama palace at Turin : ' it is impossible indeed 
to express the enthusiasm, nay, the frenzy of joy 

' This palace is so called after Giovanna Battista, Duchess of Savoy- 
Nemours, who, at the beginning of the last century, caused a new 
wing, with a handsome flight of steps and an ornamental fa,ade, to he 
added to the old castle. 

246 




^ -c 



248 THE WAR OF 1 859 

evoked thereby, especially when the King delivered 
with striking emphasis, its concluding words as 
follows : " Gentlemen, senators and deputies, the 
horizon above which our new year is appearing, is 
not wholly unclouded, but, none the less, will you 
prepare yourselves, with your wonted alacrity, for 
your parliamentary duties. Encouraged by the ex- 
periences of the past, let us bravely face what the 
future holds in store. That this future may be pros- 
perous, let us base our policy on justice as well as 
on the love of liberty and country. Our nation, 
restricted in territory though it be, has acquired 
prestige in the councils of Europe because of the 
great ideas it represents and the sympathy it in- 
spires. Our situation is not unfraught with perils 
since, although we respect treaties, we cannot be 
insensible to the cry of anguish which reaches us 
from so many parts of Italy. Strong through our 
unity and trusting in our sense of right, let us 
wisely and resolutely await the decrees of Divine 
Providence." 

A few days afterwards. Prince Jerome Napoleon, 
cousin of the Emperor, arrived at Turin, to ask the 
hand of Princess Clotilde, Victor Emmanuel's eldest 
daughter, in marriage : such an alliance, it was well 
understood, was to have a political significance apart 
from all family ties. 

In face of the attitude assumed by France and 
Piedmont, Austria now mobilised a fresh body of 
troops who were despatched to various posts on the 
Piedmontese frontier, an action which led Cavour 
to take the bold initiative of inviting Garibaldi to 



CAVOUR JUSTIFIES HIS POLICY 249 

organise a corps of volunteers, to be called Cacciatori 
delle Alpi ('Hunters of the Alps '). 

Cavour also now proposed a measure to parlia- 
ment for passing a vote of credit for fifty million 
francs. 

During the debate which ensued in the Chamber 
of Deputies (9th of February, 1859), Cavour made 
the following remarkable speech : " The honourable 
members who opposed the bill,^ that has been so 
favourably received by the parliamentary commis- 
sions, have attempted to show that the proposal 
in question was the result of an ill-considered and 
provocative policy aimed at dragging, not only this 
country, but perhaps all Europe into war. One of 
the speakers among them, pressing his accusations 
still further, has represented the President of the 
Ministerial Council as personally instigating this 
policy, and, laying aside the reserve and courtesy 
habitual to him, has implied that the said President, 
in order to find a way out of the difficulties besetting 
the Ministry, might have motives of his own for 
urging the country on to war. 

" In order to justify myself, as well as the Govern- 
ment, against such a serious indictment, I ought, 
gentlemen, to repeat the words I used on a solemn 
occasion last year, in this very assembly ; I ought to 
rehearse the history of the policy of his Majesty's 
Government since 1849 up to the present day. But 
I do not wish to trespass anew on )-our patience, for I 
flatter myself that the language used on that memor- 

' Among others Count Solaro Delia Margherita, formerly Charles 
Albert's minister durinj; ihe a])soUuist regime. 



250 THE WAR OF 1 859 

able occasion will still be fresh in the minds of most 
of you. I shall therefore content myself, gentlemen, 
with recalling the fact, that our policy has always 
been consistent since the day when our gracious 
Sovereign assumed his father's heritage on the field 
of Novara, up till the time when — a month ago — 
were uttered those imperishable words which thrilled 
the hearts of all Italians, and produced a powerful 
impression throughout Europe. 

" Our policy, gentlemen, was never provocative or 
revolutionary, but it was always liberal, national and 
Italian. We have never, in the past, believed that 
we had a right to stir up war, nor do we claim it 
now, but we have ever cherished the conviction that 
it was our duty not only to develop, within our own 
borders, the principles on which the institutions 
granted by Charles Albert to his people are based 
— the principles of liberty and nationality — but also 
to constitute ourselves, in the face of all Europe, 
interpreters of the needs, the grievances and the 
hopes of Italy. (Loud cheers.) This programme 
we have always loudly proclaimed and we have 
done so, not only in presence of the nation and 
in the sessions of parliament, but in European 
councils and diplomatic congresses. Never, in the 
past, has our policy been impeached as either fool- 
hardy or provocative ; rather has it been sealed 
with the explicit approbation of the best states- 
men in Europe — statesmen whose opinion I am 
sure the honourable member. Count Solaro Delia 
Margherita himself would respect. 

" I shall restrict myself, gentlemen, to reminding 



CAVOUR JUSTIFIES HIS POLICY 25 I 

you of the words I addressed to the representatives 
of the western Powers at the Paris Congress. Those 
words were not less clear or less decided than such as 
have been often uttered in these walls ; if more 
diplomatic in form, in substance they differed not 
from those which the most eloquent speakers have 
on their lips in their most enthusiastic moments. 
After the Congress of Paris, our policy did not 
change, neither did it become either aggressive or 
provocative. 

" I venture to challenge m)' honourable opponents 
by asking them to cite acts more provocative and 
more explicit than those I have just now quoted. It 
is true that, after the Paris Congress, we deemed it 
necessary to provide for the country's defence in the 
most practical and efficient manner possible, and that 
we have begun to erect fortifications at Alessandria. 
But if this has been done, it is because what happened 
in Paris had convinced us that the difficulties of the 
Italian question would never be solved by pacific and 
diplomatic means : nevertheless, gentlemen, in regard 
to this, we have not overstepped our rightful preroga- 
tive, nor have we been guilty of a genuine act of 
provocation. 

" Since then, our diplomatic relations with Austria 
have been interrupted, and the causes which led 
thereto, I need not here recall ; let it suffice to sa)- 
that the initiative did not come from us. The right 
honourable member, Count Solaro Delia Margherita 
cannot either in this case, accuse us of having been 
hasty in giving provocation. 

" What have been our acts of provocation and 



252 THE WAR OF 1 859 

precipitancy later on ? I repeat, I challenge my 
honourable opponents to cite them. This only have 
we done : we have not desisted from our purpose, but 
have continued, whenever we had an opportunity, to 
call the attention of Europe to the miseries of Italy, 
to her abnormal condition and to the dangers that such 
miseries and this same abnormal condition involve. 
And, may I be allowed to ask, was this policy judged 
as hasty and provocative by the other European 
Powers? I remember well that, at the Paris Congress, 
the protest of Piedmont — and considering the nature 
of the document, I admit it was a strongly-worded 
one — received the avowed approval of England and 
France, and not approval only, since those two great 
Powers felt bound to support Sardinia in debating 
the Italian question in Congress, and this they did — 
especially England — in language that, in convincing 
force, yields to none used by us in the diplomatic 
documents already published. 

" And, has our subsequent policy been severely 
judged ? Have those Powers confessed themselves 
misled by us ? Have they had to admit that Pied- 
mont had deceived them as to the state of Italy? . . . 

'"But if your policy,' say the Opposition, 'has been 
neither hasty nor provocative, why so many measures 
of defence? Why concentrate all the garrisons of the 
kingdom on the frontier? Why hurry on the arma- 
ments of Alessandria and Casale? Why come and 
ask us for a considerable loan to provide for defensive 
measures ? Austria has no aggressive intentions ; 
she has respected and will continue to respect 
treaties ; if you do not attack her, she will always 



CAVOUB JUSTIFIES BIS POLICY 253 

behave to you in the most friendly and affectionate 
manner possible.' (Laughter.) 

"It seems to me that the honourable member, 
Count Solaro Delia Margherita, was singularly con- 
fiding when he counselled us not only to disband 
part of our army in order to repair our disordered 
finances, but to trust implicitly in the good will of 
Austria and the support of our allies. (Laughter.) 

" I believe, gentlemen, that his first piece of advice 
would be practicable if, after disbanding part of the 
army, other men, with other principles, could be, at 
the same time, called in to direct the destinies of our 
country. In such a case, our safety against Austria, 
even without soldiers, would be guaranteed. (Cheers.) 
But as I believe that at least the second part of 
such counsel — understood but not expressed — can 
only be carried out with the support of a majority of 
the nation, I think that it would hardly be prudent to 
repose this unlimited trust in Austria's benevolent 
intentions. 

" On the other hand, let us see if the statement 
of the honourable member, Count Solaro Delia 
Margherita, is warranted by facts. Already, before 
my time, my honourable friend Mamiani, in an 
eloquent speech, had recalled the reiterated aggres- 
sive policy of Austria ; he showed you how, for the 
last ten years, she has extended her substantial 
dominion from the banks of the Po to the furthest 
limits of the Adriatic as far as Ancona, how, in 
spite of treaties, she has increased the defences of 
Piacenza, and how the garrison of that city has 
encroached even to the surrounding forts. But, 



254 THE WAR OF 1 859 

gentlemen, what avails it to rehearse such stale facts, 
for it is recent facts with which we are more especially 
concerned. 

" As has been demonstrated to you, in the speech 
made to the Chamber by my colleague, the Minister 
of Finance, the Austrian government, in spite of an 
utter absence of provocation on our part or on that 
of any Italians whatever, announced to Europe that 
it was about to send a fresh body of troops into 
Italy, and proceeded to fulfil its purpose with a 
rapidity and precipitation so amazing that it reminds 
us of the prompt and decisive warfare of the First 
Empire. For some days, all the ordinary means 
of transport, as well as all railway accommodation, 
were monopolised in the interests of the Austrian 
government ; on the lines between Vienna and 
Trieste and between Venice and Milan, nothing else 
was to be seen, but men, horses and munitions of 
all kinds — and where were these troops stationed? 
Were they quartered in the large cities where popular 
risings might reasonably have been dreaded ? No ; 
they were, instead, despatched to our own frontier, 
in the towns least likely to breed revolt. In a 
word, Austria has assumed towards us, not a defen- 
sive, but a distinctly offensive attitude, and all this 
time, I repeat, no provocation whatever had been given 
on our side, we had practised no warlike manoeuvres 
of any kind ; a truce, besides, reigned in the sphere 
of diplomacy, and some time had elapsed since 
Piedmont had had occasion to call the attention of 
Europe to Italian affairs. Hence, I believe, I am 
justified in proclaiming aloud, in the presence of 



CAVOUR JUSTIFIES HIS POLICY 255 

Parliament, of the nation and of Europe, tliat if 
there has been provocation, it was offered, not by 
Piedmont, but rather by Austria. 

" Well I know that Austria protested her love of 
peace and her respect for Piedmontese institutions, 
both in cabinet councils and in diplomatic utterances. 
But, gentlemen, is this the first time that warlike 
intentions have been cloaked under the semblance of 
pacific words ? Count Solaro Delia Margherita is too 
well versed in the history of diplomacy to maintain 
that it is so. Prudence, therefore, and our bounden 
duty alike compel us to make prompt and decisive 
provision for the future. 

" The Ministry did as much as lay within the limits 
of the executive power ; in concentrating on the 
frontiers all its available forces, and, in what exceeds 
those limits, it appeals to you for the means to 
provide efficiently for the defence of the nation and 
for the maintenance of its honour, as well as of its 
most sacred interests 

" I think, gentlemen, that I have demonstrated that 
our policy has not been hasty and that our actions 
have not been provocative. While calling upon you 
now, for the means of resistance, we have no intention 
of changing our attitude, nor of proceeding to direct 
acts of defiance, but, on the other hand, we do not 
intend to be intimidated by Austrian threats, especially 
when Austrian men and arms have been despatched 
to our frontier. (Cheers.) These principles, frankly 
and faithfully proclaimed, will, I trust, recei\'e the 
approbation, not onl}' of Parliament, but of all right- 
feeling men throughout Europe. (Hear, hear.) 



256 THE WAR OF 1 859 

" I rely, gentlemen, on your being satisfied with 
these explanations, and trust you will not hesitate to 
give a favourable reception to our demand. I am 
confident that the answer which the voting is now 
going to furnish, will clearly prove to all Europe 
that, whatever be the character of our internal debates, 
we are unanimous in our decisions, when not only the 
safety and independence, but also the honour of our 
country is at stake." (Loud and prolonged cheers in 
the Chamber and from the tribunes.) 

Cavour insisted in maintaining that Austria must 
be the aggressive party, for, in the treaty ^^'ith 
Napoleon III., it had been stipulated that France 
would come to the help of Piedmont only in case of 
the latter being attacked by Austria. Hence, Cavour 
was obliged to seek every means of putting his country 
into the attitude of the provoked party. How many 
disappointments, uncertainties and anxieties crowded 
those days, from February to the end of April ! In 
order to understand the enormous difficulties over- 
come by Cavour, it would be necessary to follow 
literally, day by day, the history of that period. In 
March, he repaired to Paris to ascertain Napoleon's 
action : it was too evident, however, that French 
public opinion was unfavourable to the war, and 
the Emperor was wavering. Russia and England 
suggested that the question should be solved by a 
congress, to which proposal Napoleon III. acceded: 
Cavour now believed all was lost, since Piedmont 
could not refuse without putting herself in the wrong. 
Fortunately, the difficulty was solved by Austria 
boldly insisting that Piedmont should disarm before 



VICTOR EMMANUEL PROCLAIMS WAR 257 

being represented at the congress, and on the 23rd 
of April, this demand was enforced b}' an ultiniatuui^ 
to be answered within three days. 

Now ensued a genuine declaration of hostilities, and 
most joyfully did Victor Emmanuel make the follow- 
ing announcement to his troops: "Soldiers! Austria 
who masses her armies on our frontiers, and threatens 
to invade our country because liberty and order rule 
there, because concord and affection between sovereign 
and people — and not force — sway the state, because 
.there, the anguished cry of oppressed Italy is listened 
to — Austria dares to tell us who are only armed in 
our own defence, to lay down those arms and put 
ourselves in her power. Such an outrageous sug- 
gestion surely merits a condign response, and I have 
indignantly refused her request. I announce this to 
you, in the certainty that you will make the wrong- 
done to your king and to your nation, your own. 
Hence, mine is a proclamation of war : arm your- 
selves, therefore, in readiness for it ! 

" You will be confronted by an ancient enemy 
who is both valiant and disciplined, but against 
whom you need not fear to measure your strength, 
for you may remember with pride Goito, Pastrengo, 
Santa Lucia, Sommacampagna and, above all, 
Custoza where four brigades fought for three days 
against the enemy's five corps ifarmce. I will be 
your leader. Your prowess in action has already 
been tested in the past, and when fighting under 
my magnanimous father, I m}'self proudly recog- 
nised your valour. I am cf)nvinced that, on the 
field of honour and glor}', \'ou will know how 

18 



258 THE WAR OF 1 859 

to justify, as well as to augment, your military 
renown. 

" You will have as comrades those intrepid French 
troops — the conquerors in so many distinguished 
campaigns — with whom you fought side by side at 
Tchernaya, whom Napoleon III., always prompt to 
further the defence of a righteous cause and the 
victory of civilisation, generously sends in great 
numbers to our aid. 

" March then, confident of success, and wreathe 
with fresh laurels that standard which, rallying from 
all quarters the flower of Italian youth to its threefold 
colours, points out your task of accomplishing that 
righteous and sacred enterprise — the independence of 
Italy, wherein we find our war-cry." 



The Austrian army, to the number of one hundred 
and seventy thousand men — besides those remaining 
in the Lombardo-Venetian fortresses — was com- 
manded by General Gyulai, the successor of Ra- 
detzky who had died the year before, at the age of 
ninety-one. Gyulai meant to attack and rout the 
Piedmontese army before it could join its French 
allies. On the 29th of April, he crossed the Ticino, 
then spreading out his forces along the Sesia, he 
reconnoitred as far as Chivasso. These districts 
abound in cultivated rice-fields and are intersected 
by many canals : it was therefore easy by flooding 
the ground, to hinder the march of the Austrian 
troops on Turin. 

Meanwhile, the Piedmontese army, composed of 



MONTEBELLO l PALESTRO 259 

sixty thousand men, awaited the arrival of the French 
forces on the right bank of the Po. On the 12th of 
May, Napoleon III., already preceded into Italy by 
one hundred and twenty thousand of his men, dis- 
embarked at Genoa, and, on the 14th, was at Ales- 
sandria, where, near the mouth of the Tanaro, the 
allied armies met. The Austrian troops covered a 
long tract, from Novara to Vercelli, then extended 
down the line of the Sesia as far as the Po and from 
here reached the mouth of the Tanaro, Gyulai, 
seeing the enemy concentrated on the right bank 
of the Po, believed that Napoleon III. intended 
crossing that river in the direction of Piacenza — as 
Napoleon I. had done in 1796 — and so massed his 
troops towards the south. At this juncture, a portion 
of his army encountered the French and Piedmontese 
at Montebello where the extreme right wing of the 
allies was posted. The Austrian general met with 
such a determined resistance that he imagined this 
must be the centre of the enemy, and felt convinced 
that he had guessed the latter's intention ; he there- 
fore caused his army to pursue its march southwards. 
By this movement, Vercelli was abandoned by the 
Austrians and immediately reoccupied by the Pied- 
montese. 

Napoleon now prepared a bold flank movement, 
by leaving the Po for the Ticino, and to mask this 
manoeuvre, ordered the Piedmontese to make an 
advance. Thus, whilst Victor Emmanuel, at the 
head of his men, flung himself from Vercelli on 
Palestro — meriting, by the skill of his military tactics, 
the acclamations of a regiment of Zouaves whom he 



26o THE WAR OF 1 859 

headed as corporal — the French, taking advantage of 
the Alessandria, Casale and Novara railway, made 
for the bridge of Buffalora over the Ticino. Only 
then did Gyulai perceive this clever stratagem which 
threw Lombardy open to the allies, and he was 
consequently obliged to cross the Ticino, to block 
the enemy's way to Milan. 

On the 4th of June, at Magenta, nearly the whole 
of the Austrian army engaged the French forces ; 
the battle, which was of a most desperate character, 
lasted all day, and was remarkable for the prodigies 
of valour performed. The Austrians, driven back 
into Magenta itself, maintained, even in that village, 
such a stout resistance that they had to be dislodged 
by house-to-house fighting. 

On the 8th of June, Victor Emmanuel and 
Napoleon III. made their triumphal entry into 
Milan — now freed from the Austrian yoke. On the 
same day, a French corps repulsed the Austrians at 
Melegnano, whilst Garibaldi entered Bergamo from 
the other side. Garibaldi who had been the last to 
leave Lombardy in 1 848, was now the first to set foot 
in its territory in 1859. Since the 23rd of May, he 
had led his own Cacciatori to the Lombard shores of 
Lake Maggiore, had defeated the Austrians at Varese, 
entered Como, routed the enemy afresh at San 
Fermo, and was now proceeding to Bergamo and 
Brescia, with the intention of reaching the Alps of the 
Trentino, to cut off the enemy's retreat. 

After the battle of Magenta, Gyulai had been 
dismissed from the command, and his post was 
assumed by the Emperor Francis Joseph himself, 




NAPOLKON m. 



262 THE WAR OF 1 859 

assisted by the aged Marshal Hess. On the night 
of the 23rd of June, the retreating Austriahs crossed 
the Mincio, but, a few hours after, retraced tlieir steps 
and took up their position on the liills to the south 
of the Lake of Garda. On the morning of the 24th, 
the Franco-Piedmontese army commenced their 
march at dawn and shortly afterwards, to their 
great amazement, encountered the Austrians who, 
they imagined, had crossed the Mincio the night 
before. The struggle was a terrible one ; in fact, 
the line covered by the fighting extended a distance 
of five leagues. 

A series of hills, dominated by Solferino and San 
Martino, formed the positions the Franco-Piedmon- 
tese army had to assail. The French contested 
Solferino with the Austrians, and after a hotly 
disputed battle of more than twelve hours, succeeded 
in occupying it. The Piedmontese, led by Victor 
Emmanuel, made a violent assault on San Martino ; 
four times in succession did they take it, only to 
lose it again, but the fifth time, they made themselves 
masters of it for good and all. By six o'clock in 
the evening, the strength of the Austrian army was 
everywhere broken : just then, a frightful hurricane, 
heralded by clouds of dust and accompanied by 
torrents of rain burst over the two armies, and 
thus favoured the flight of the Austrian battalions. 
Napoleon III. now fixed his headquarters at Cavriana, 
in the same house that h^-ancis Joseph had tenanted 
during the action. On that vast battlefield, the 
combatants had numbered three hundred thousand 
men — one hundred and sixty thousand Austrians 



PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA : CAVOUR RESIGNS 263 

and one hundred and forty thousand French and 
Piedmontese — of all these, after that sanguinary 
struggle, twenty-five thousand were left dead or 
wounded. 

After a few days' rest, the Franco-Piedmontese 
army crossed the Mincio and besieged Peschiera. 
Now there seemed a chance of the Italians fulfilling 
the hope they had so long cherished, of expelling the 
foreigners. They confidently awaited news of fresh 
feats of arms in the Quadrilateral and of the success 
of the fleet sent by France and Piedmont into 
Adriatic waters, but instead came the most unex- 
pected tidings imaginable. 

On the 8th of July, Napoleon III. had met Francis 
Joseph, and three days later, the preliminaries of peace 
were signed at Villafranca. By this treaty, Austria 
was to cede Lombardy to Napoleon who was to 
relegate it to Piedmont ; the Italian States were to 
be amalgamated into a confederation under the 
presidency of the Pope, but Venice, though forming 
part of this same confederation, was to remain under 
Austrian rule. Great indeed was the mortification of 
all Italy, on hearing such terms of peace announced. 
Cavour, who had devoted all his marvellous talents to 
realising the ideal of national redemption and had 
believed his ends so nearly attained, hastened to his 
prince and, in a melancholy interview, advised him 
not to accept such conditions. But Victor Emmanuel, 
although it caused his very heart to bleed, signed 
the treaty, adding, however, these words : " I approve 
as far as I myself am concerned ; " whereupon, Cavour 
sent in his resiijnation. 



264 THE WAR OF 1 859 

What was the motive that had induced Napoleon 
to break his lately-made promise of freeing Italy 
from the Alps to the Adriatic ? There were many 
reasons which influenced him ; the sight of that 
immense battlefield, strewn with the bodies of the 
slain, the determined resistance of the Austrian 
soldiers, the difficulties which would have to be faced 
in the Quadrilateral, the hostile attitude of Prussia, 
were all motives which combined to sway the French 
Emperor's mind. But there was also another reason 
which counted for much. Napoleon had been drawn 
into this campaign without really knowing the state 
of Italian public opinion ; he wished Italy to be free 
" from the Alps to the Adriatic," but did not want 
Italian unity ; rather did he desire the formation of a 
confederacy wherein France could always make her 
own predominance felt in the peninsula. Scarcely 
had he arrived in Italy, than he was forced to see that 
Italian ideals were very different from what he had 
imagined them to be. Trials had but ripened the 
virtues of prudence and wisdom in men's minds : in 
1859, the people were little likely to repeat the 
blunders of 1848 or 1849, and there were now no 
longer discussions over forms of government, but 
everywhere a unanimous resolve to rail}' round the 
liberal monarchy of Savoy. 

On the first proclamation of the war, the Grand 
Duke of Tuscany had been compelled to fly from his 
states (April 27th i). Napoleon had imagined that 

' Leopold II. never entered Tuscany again and died in 1 870, 
leaving as heir to his pretensions, his son Ferdinand who now lives at 
Salzburg, in Austria, 



WIDE DESIRE FOR ANNEXATION TO PIEDMONT 265 

in this province — the ancient stronghold of Itah'an 
municipalism — it would be easy to form a new king- 
dom with a Bonaparte to wear its crown. With 
this aim in view, the fifth French army corps, com- 
manded by Prince Jerome Napoleon, had disembarked 
at Leghorn, under the pretext of organising the 
military forces of Central Italy and harassing the 
Austrians on the extreme left. But the Tuscans 
soon divined the real intention of the French, and the 
provisional government in Florence, previously insti- 
tuted under Bettino Ricasoli, suddenly avowed its 
intention of uniting Tuscany to Piedmont, whereupon. 
Prince Napoleon, seeing the true attitude of the 
country, found it advisable to affect to promote the 
annexation. 

The duchies of Parma and Modena had also 
been deserted by their dukes," and the papal legates 
had to quit Romagna whose inhabitants now suddenly 
announced their fusion with Piedmont. Indeed this 
impulse for annexation now began to spread, and 
to the cry of " Victor Emmanuel," the Marches and 
Umbria revolted against the Pontiff, but in these 
regions, the movement was sanguinarily suppressed 
by the Swiss troops. 

Napoleon III. was displeased to note how all 
Italian aspirations tended to unity and thus it 
was that he had signed the treaty of Villafranca. 
Peace was concluded at Zurich in the November 

' They never re-entered their kingdoms ; Robert of Parma, who was 
then only eleven years old, now lives at Schwarzau in Austria; 
Francis V. of Modena died in 1875, a-'""-! ^1 his death, the male line of 
this branch of the house of Austria-Este became extinct. 



266 THE WAR OF 1 859 

following, and there the idea of an Italian con- 
federation was mooted afresh. 



The fugitive princes ought to have returned to 
their states, but how was it possible ? They cer- 
tainly could not hope to be recalled by their subjects 
for the latter had expelled them ; occupying their king- 
doms with troops of their own was out of the question, 
because they had none ; foreign aid, moreover, was 
not to be looked for, since Napoleon III. had estab- 
lished the principle of non-intervention. Then the 
people of Central Italy showed themselves capable of 
a bold political coup ; under the leadership of Bettino 
Ricasoli, dictator in Tuscany, and Luigi Carlo Farini 
— who held a similar office in Emilia and Romagna — 
they declared, by means of their assembled deputies, 
their earnest desire to be incorporated with Piedmont. 

The new ministry formed at Turin, after Cavour's 
resignation, had pursued its way timidly, fearing to 
rouse the suspicion and displeasure of the European 
Powers, but at this momentous and difficult juncture, 
Cavour again accepted the premiership (January 20, 
i860). He immediately gave a bolder impetus to 
King Victor Emmanuel's policy by sending a note 
to all the Powers, in which he asserted it to be now 
impossible for Piedmont to offer any resistance to the 
inevitable course of events. Cavour imagined that 
since Napoleon III. had obtained the imperial throne 
by ■&. plebiscite, he would not deny the validity of such 
a claim in Italy, and forthwith submitted this idea to 
the lunperor who was bound to approve of it. But 



CESSION OF SAJ'OY AND NICE TO FRANCE 26/ 

the French nation was discontented, imagining that 
the blood it had shed for Italy had profited nothing, 
and was moreover very averse to the formation of 
a powerful kingdom beyond the Alps. 

Now it was that Cavour determined on a great 
sacrifice. In the convention of Plombieres, it had 
been agreed that, in the event of a kingdom of eleven 
million inhabitants being established from the Alps to 
the Adriatic, Piedmont would cede Savoy to France. 
As, however, by the treaty of Villafranca, Venetia 
had remained under the x'\ustrian yoke, no more had 
been said about cession of territory, but, by the 
annexation of Central Italy, the number of Victor 
Emmanuel's subjects was now augmented to eleven 
millions. In order to induce Napoleon III. to approve 
of such an annexation, Cavour offered him Savoy, 
but the Emperor claimed Nice as well, and the 
minister was obliged to accede to his demands. 
On the 24th of March, i860. Savoy, the cradle of 
the reigning dynasty, and Nice, Garibaldi's native 
province, were ceded to France. Garibaldi, deeply 
wounded in his tenderest feelings, violently abused 
Cavour in parliament, but the Chamber, although 
it respected the hero's emotion, ratified the treaty 
which was, at this crisis, a necessary concession. 

At the same time, Parma, Modena, Romagna and 
Tuscany expressed by universal suffrage their cordial 
desire for union with Piedmont, and, a few days later, 
the fusion of these provinces with the dominions of 
the House of Savoy was an accomplished fact. On 
the 2nd of April, i860, at the opening of the new 
parliament, Victor Emmanuel could thus sum up the 



268 



THE WAR OF 1859 



results alread)' obtained b)- the nationalist party — "in 
a very short space of time, an in\-asion repulsed, 
Lombartl)' liberated b)' \-aliant feats o'i arms, Central 
Italy freed by her people's wonderful strength, and 
to-da)', assembled around me here, the representatives 
of the rights and hopes of the nation." 




XV 



THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' 



Whilst the second war of independence was being 
waged in Upper Italy, I'erdinand II. of Naples died 
at the palace of Caserta (May 22, 1859), leaving 
behind him a memory universally execrated. His 
place on the throne was filled by his weak-minded, 
ignorant and bigoted son, Francis II., commonly' 
called Franceschiello, at that time twenty-three years 
of age. Victor h^mmanuel, who respected the family 
ties which bound him to Francis — the son of that 
Maria Christina of Savoy whom the Neapolitans 
surnamed 'the Saint' — advised the young King not 
only to grant a constitution, but to send his troops to 
join forces with those of Piedmont in the war being 
carried on against Austria. But Francis, carefully 
following in his father's footsteps, contemptuously 
refused this counsel, and allied himself instead to 
Pius IX. who was just then intent on quelling the 
revolts in Umbria and the Marches. The cruel 
methods of repression adcjpted by the papal emis- 
saries were efficient in reimpcxsing the pontifical 

yoke on those provinces, but n(;ne the less did the 

269 



2/0 THE MARCH 01' 'THE TUOUSAND^ 

latter groan under the infliction. In order to prevent 
fresh outbreaks, the Pope recruited soldiers from all 
parts of Murope and placed at their head the French 
general, Lamoricicre. Francis II. would have liked 
to help the Pontiff wrest Romagna from Victor 
Emmanuel— for this region had at last freed itself 
from papal dominion — had not Neapolitan affairs 
now monopolised his attention. 

The great victories gained by the Franco- Pied- 
montese army at Solferino and San Martino, as well 
as the annexations in Central Italy, had created a 
deep impression throughout the kingdom of Naples: 
the names of Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi were 
on all men's lips, and liberal demonstrations on a 
small scale took place in many of the communes. 
At the beginning of i860, Francesco Crispi, a Sicilian 
exile, twice visited his native island to discover the 
leanings of the population and to fan patriotic hopes. 
In the March of that same year, another of his com- 
patriots, Rosalino Pilo, sailed from the Ligurian coast, 
with a few followers, for Sicily, in order to rouse his 
countrymen to arms, but the insurrection had already 
broken out before his arrival on the scene. On the 
4th of Ai)ril, the tolling of the bell of the convent of 
La Gancia, at Palermo, sounded the signal for revolt ; 
in the city itself, the insurgents were vanquished, but 
their bands continued to scour the countr\' districts. 

When these events were known on \\\c mainland, 
they stirred up there a desire among Italians of 
proffering aid to the Sicilians ; to this end, Agostino 
Bertani enlisted soldiers and Giuseppe La Farina 
collected money and arms. Garibaldi was then 



Till-, lixph'.nrriox siwrts for s/c/ly 271 

asked to lead the expedition, but he hesitated, 
fearinc^ that the rash enterprise of Sapri might be 
repeated ; finally, however, he yielded to the urgent 
[)ersuasions of Nino J^ixio and Francesco Crispi. 



On the evening of the 4th of May, i860, the streets 
of Cjenoa were thronged by great crowds of people ; 
everywhere the news was repeated : " They start 
to-night." In the midst of this popular agitation, the 
government alone seemed to play a passive and 
inactive part. Cavour had well understood the im- 
portance of a successful result to this undertaking : if 
it failed, Garibaldi would alone be responsible ; if it 
triumphed, the national cause would be inconceix'ably 
benefited : he therefore a.stutely refrained from overt 
action in the matter, but indirectly promoted the 
enterprise in every possible way. 

On the night of the 4th-5th of May, Nino Bixio 
affected to take violent pcxssession of two sliips in 
the port of Genoa — the Lovibardo and the Pieviontc 
— belonging to the Rubattino company, with whom 
he had already preconcerted the scheme, and trans- 
ported them to the neighbouring village of Quarto 
where twelve hundred volunteers embarked, to go to 
the aid of the insurgent islanders. 

The recollection of this expedition always roused 
Garibaldi to such enthusiasm that, in relating the 
departure of ' the Thousand ' in his Mcnioric, his 
style rises to quite a poetic elevation : — 

'''Wherever any of our brothers are fio-Jitiiii::; for 
liberty, thither all Italians must Jare' : so ye said 



272 THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' 

and went accordingly, without asking how many 
enemies you had to face, without knowing if j^our 
number of volunteers would suffice, and without any 
guarantee that your means for the arduous under- 
taking were adequate. Ye hastened thither, defiant 
alike of the elements, as of the difficulties and dangers 
with which enemies and self-styled friends beset 
your path. In vain did the numerous Bourbon fleet 
patrol your waters, and seek to imprison indomit- 
able Trinacria in a ring of steel ; in vain did it 
plough the Tyrrhenian sea in every direction, in 
order to annihilate you in its depths : all, all in 
vain ! 

" Sail on, sail on, ye argonauts of liberty ! There, 
on the far-off southern horizon, shines the pole-star 
that will steadfastly point you out your course and 
guide you to the fulfilment of your great enterprise, 
even as it guided the sublime singer of Beatrice, and 
all the great souls who came after him, through the 
darkness of the tempest — the star of Italy. . . . 

" Sail on ! Sail on, intrepid mariners of the 
Pic!iio>ite3.vA Loinlhirdo—noh\Q\'essQ\so{ 3. yet nobler 
crew ! History will surely commemorate }'our illus- 
trious names, yea, even though calumny may do its 
worst! And when the remnant of 'the Thousand,' that 
Time's scythe may spare to hoary age, shall sit b\- 
the domestic hearth and tell their grandchildren the 
wondrous story of those deeds in which they played 
an honoured part, well will their youthful listeners 
remember the names of those who shared in that 
most gallant enterprise." 

In that valiant company of brave men, figured 




NINO BIXIO. 



274 THR MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' 

Nino Bixio — according to Garibaldi, the principal 
actor in this bold undertaking — Crispi, Tlirr, La 
Masa, the brothers Cairoli, Sirtori, Mosto and Ippolito 
Nievo, a young Paduan poet, who met a tragic death 
in the following year by shipwreck. 

The Lonibardo and the Pienionte cast anchor at the 
promontory of Telamone where the Piedmontese 
commandant of the fortress provided 'the Thousand' 
with some rifles and a small cannon. Garibaldi 
deemed this a good opportunity for despatching 
sixty men to the Papal States, with the object of 
diverting the attention of the Powers and making 
believe that the expedition was organised against the 
Pontiff himself Then the two vessels headed for 
Sicily. 

On the nth of May, they came in sight of Marsala, 
in whose harbour were two English men-of-war — the 
Argus, stationed there to protect British interests, 
and the Intrepid, bound for Malta. Two Neapolitan 
cruisers had left the port a little before to reconnoitre 
the coast. In less than two hours, the majority of 
Garibaldi's men, under the sagacious direction of 
Tlirr, had landed, but just then, up came the two 
Neapolitan cruisers which were scarcely within range 
of fire, before they began to bombard the Garibaldian 
ships, as vvell as that part of the shore chosen as a 
landing-place by the volunteers. The captain of one 
of the English vessels now boarded one of the 
Bourbon warships, to beg the commander to spare 
the magazines and the buildings protected by the 
British flag. Meantime the last of the volunteers 
disembarked and landed their munitions of war. 



GARIBALDI AT SALEMI : CALATAFIMI 2^5 

and the Bourbon sailors retired in indignation, 
towing the empty Pienionte in their wake and 
leaving the Lombardo submerged in the harbour. 
A few of the volunteers at once betook themselves 
to the telegraph-office, to prevent any transmission 
of messages to the Bourbon government, and arrived 
there just as the employe was sending a telegram to 
the effect that two Sardinian vessels had arrived and 
were disembarking troops. One of the party, with a 
practical knowledge of telegraphy, continued the 
message thus : " Have made a mistake — are only two 
trading vessels : " on receiving the answer — which 
consisted of the one word, " Idiot!" — he promptly cut 
the wire. 

From Marsala ' the Thousand ' proceeded to 
Salemi where Garibaldi issued a manifesto, assum- 
ing, in Victor Emmanuel's name, the dictatorship of 
Sicily. The Neapolitan government, thus unsuccess- 
ful in preventing these ' filibusters ' — as they stig- 
matised them — from landing, now began to realise 
the gravity of the situation and to flood the Euro- 
pean cabinets with protests against Piedmontese 
perfidy, whilst it sent orders to Palermo to despatch 
General Landi, with a strong body of troops, against 
Garibaldi. 

The two armies encountered one another on the 
15th of May, at Calatafimi, on a spot called ' Pianto 
dei Romani.' Landi had taken up his position on a 
ridged height and there awaited the Garibaldian 
onset. The struggle was desperate : the volunteers, 
though badly armed and much outnumbered by the 
enemy's numerous battalions, rushed with such deter- 



276 THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' 

mination to the attack, that the Bourbons, after 
prolonged resistance, had to beat a retreat. 

Garibaldi then marched on to Palermo and on the 
20th of May came in sight of the city. Here he 
resorted to a very adroit manoeuvre ; skirting the 
hills which surround Palermo, he proposed to effect 
a more easy entrance into the city by enticing a 
great portion of the garrison on his track. He 
succeeded, in fact, in luring them to follow him on 
the Corleone road; then, leaving a few soldiers there, 
he led some of his chosen troops on to Palermo by 
a steep and circuitous route, and boldly charging 
with the bayonet, victoriously entered the city on the 
27th of May. But Bourbon troops yet held the 
fortress and a Bourbon fleet still occupied the har- 
bour ; hence, Palermo was bombarded from both 
sides. During the night, the volunteers, aided by the 
citizens, erected barricades and thus organised a 
resistance to the enemy's forces who after some 
days of fierce fighting, were compelled to sue for an 
armistice and, on the 6th of June, had to abandon 
their positions. 

In the meantime, as the revolution was spreading 
throughout the island, the Piedmontese government 
could adopt a bolder policy ; consequently, new 
vessels were sent from Genoa, carr}'ing reinforce- 
ments of volunteers to the Garibaldians, headed by 
Medici and Cosenz. 

The Bourbon troops were concentrated at Milazzo, 
and there Garibaldi proceeded to give them battle. At 
first, victory favoured the Neapolitans ; only towards 
evening, did it revert to their opponents. By the 20th 



EMBARRASSMENT OF PIEDMONT 2/7 

of July, the date of the engagement at Milazzo, the 
whole island could be said to have defeated the 
Bourbon power, to which the citadel of Messina alone 
remained faithful, but the garrison was compelled to 
refrain from bombarding the city. 

Francis II., having thus far warded off disaster, 
thought well to grant a constitution and to promise 
an alliance with Piedmont, but it was now too late. 
The Piedmontese government, however, was seriously 
embarrassed, since all the European Powers, except 
England, evinced disapproval of its policy ; in fact, 
Victor Emmanuel was obliged to write to Garibaldi, 
begging him not to cross the Straits. But at the 
same time, Cavour also sent word to him, by Admiral 
Persano, that it was no use to leave the enterprise 
half fulfilled. Hence, Garibaldi, ignoring Victor 
Emmanuel's public declaration, crossed the Straits 
on the night of the i9-20th of August. 

Meanwhile, Cavour was seeking for every possible 
means to foment the outbreak of a revolt at Naples, 
mainly through the agency of the Marquis Di Villa- 
marina, the resident Piedmontese ambassador. The 
expected rising did not take place at Naples, however, 
but in the Basilicata, and on the i6th of August, the 
city of Potenza hoisted the tricoloured flag to the 
cry of" Italy and Victor Emmanuel!" The Bourbon 
troops, who were stationed in Calabria, lost heart at 
the news of this insurrection breaking out right in 
then- midst, and several thousand men, under the 
command of General Briganti, refused to fight ; their 
leader, accused of treason, was murdered a few days 
after, by the very soldiers who had deserted him. 



278 THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' 

The revolution now became general throughout all 
the Neapolitan provinces. Garibaldi, leaving his 
troops behind and followed only by a few officers, 
now took the road to Naples, amidst the acclamations 
of the people who hailed him as a deliverer ; from 
Reggio Di Calabria to the capital, his march was one 
grand triumphal progress. On the 6th of September, 
Francis II. quitted Naples and invited the sailors of 
his navy to follow him to Gaeta, but instead of obeying 
him, they promptly joined the Piedmontese fleet 
already in the harbour. The following day. Garibaldi 
made his entry into Naples, amid the ovations of a 
people mad with joy. 

* * 

However, the work was not easy to fulfil ; fifty 
thousand picked troops, loyal to the Bourbon dynasty, 
were still concentrated in the fortresses of Gaeta and 
Capua, protected by the line of the Volturno ; nearly 
the whole of Europe was inimical to the revolution, 
whilst the Marches and Umbria were agitating for 
freedom. As if all this were not enough to intensify 
the difficulties of the situation, Garibaldi, whose im- 
pressionable temperament caused him to be easily 
influenced by those around him, now began to lend 
a willing ear to the headstrong counsels of Mazzini 
who had suddenly made his appearance at Naples. 

Piedmont desired the immediate annexation of the 
Neapolitan provinces, in order to show the PZuropean 
Powers an accomplished fact. Garibaldi, on the con- 
trary, wanted first to liberate Rome, then Venetia 
and finally wrest Nice from P^rance ; only then, in the 



EXPEDITION INTO UMBRIA AND MARCHES 2/9 

Capitol itself, would he have been ready to place his 
sword in Victor Emmanuel's hand. Cavour was no 
less bold or resolute than Garibaldi, but the former 
well understood the impossibility of achieving such 
ends at the present juncture ; hence, arose a feud 
between these two great men, which much aggravated 
their mutual relations — already embittered by the 
cession of Nice to France. 

Under existing circumstances, Cavour thought that 
the King ought to assume the leadership of the 
national movement, and therefore decided on the bold 
initiative of an expedition into Umbria and the 
Marches, which would not only serve to unite 
Romagna with the Neapolitan States, but would 
also give the King a chance of curbing the head- 
strong impetus of the revolution and guiding it more 
safely to its goal. On the 7th of September — the 
same day on which Garibaldi entered Naples — an 
ambassador was despatched to Rome, to represent 
to the Pope that Victor Emmanuel's feelings were 
deeply hurt by the news of the massacres which 
were being daily committed in the Marches and 
Umbria by General Lamoriciere's mercenary troops 
and to announce further, that if the latter were not 
disbanded, the Sardinian monarch would feel bound 
to intervene for the purpose of protecting the popu- 
lation. On the iith of September, even before re- 
ceiving the Pontiffs reply — which was a very sharp 
one — the Italian soldiers crossed the frontier. 

It was necessary to act with great promptitude in 
order to nullify the opposition of the Powers who had 
all recalled their ambassadors from Turin — for 



28o THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' 

England alone favoured the idea of a united Italy. 
The two able generals, Cialdini and Fanti, who 
commanded the Italian forces, therefore prepared for 
immediate action. On the i8th of September, the 
papal army was discomfited at Castelfidardo : Lamo- 
riciere then retired to Ancona where, besieged by 
land and blockaded by sea, he was obliged to 
capitulate on the 26th. Victor Emmanuel then put 
himself at the head of his troops and marched into 
Neapolitan territory. 

Whilst these events were taking place, the Bourbon 
staff, with fifty thousand men massed on the banks of 
the Volturno, was meditating the bold manoeuvre 
of breaking through the line of Garibaldi's army 
and thus opening up the road to Naples, where a 
counter-revolution was being hatched. The assault 
on the Garibaldian camp took place on the ist of 
October and occasioned the most sanguinary battle 
in the whole of the campaign of i860. Towards 
two o'clock in the afternoon, the nationalist sol- 
diers seemed routed, but finally, Garibaldi, from the 
high ground where he was stationed, carried the 
situation and disposed his forces so satisfactorily, 
that at five o'clock he was able to telegraph the mes- 
sage to Naples : " Victory all along the line." His 
joy at this success, however, was sadly damped by the 
loss of many of his best men, more particularly that 
of Pilade Bronzetti who, with three hundred com- 
rades, had devoted himself to certain death for the 
good of the cause. On the morrow, the Bourbons 
again returned to tlic charge, but the result was a 
decisive triumph for the nationalists. 




ENRICO CIALDINI. 



282 THE MARCH OF ' THE THOUSAND 

Meanwhile, Garibaldi's political views had under- 
gone an important modification, owing to the in- 
fluence of Giorgio Pallavicino — now nominated pro- 
dictator of Naples — who succeeded in weaning the 
great leader from republican tendencies and in 
convincing him of the necessity of annexation. A 
plebiscite of the inhabitants of the Neapolitan and 
Sicilian States having been convoked, they thereby 
unanimously declared their wish to support the 
monarchy as represented by Victor Emmanuel. 

Thus fell at last the Bourbon regime ; only 
England, amid the prevailing distrust of Europe, 
applauded its fall. Lord John Russell, in a note, 
dated the 27th of October, written in French to 
Hudson, the English ambassador at Turin, after re- 
calling the Neapolitan revolutions of 1820 and 1848, 
commented in strong terms on the justice of the 
Bourbons' expulsion, comparing it to the English 
revolution against the Stuarts in 1688, and he 
concluded his letter in the following terms : " We 
must admit that the Italian revolution has been 
effected with singular moderation and tolerance. The 
downfall of the existing regime has not been followed, 
as is so often the case, by outbreaks of popular ven- 
geance, and nowhere have extreme democratic notions 
obtained. Public opinion has neutralised all excesses 
of part}'-triumph, whilst the orinciples respected 
by a constitutional monarchy have been associated 
with the name of a prince who is the representative 
of an ancient and glorious dynasty. In view of the 
causes and conditions which have determined the 
Italian revolution, her Majesty's Government cannot 



GARIBALDI RESIGNS COMMAND I SIEGE OF G A ETA 283 

see sufficient reasons to justify the severe blame that 
Austria, France, Russia and Prussia have attached to 
the action of the King of Sardinia. Her Majesty's 
Government would prefer to contemplate the pleasing 
spectacle of a people building up their liberties and 
consolidating their independence, amid the sympathies 
and the good wishes of Europe." 

On the 26th of October, Victor Emmanuel and 
Garibaldi met on the Teano road, when the popular 
hero hastened to hail the monarch as ' King of Italy.' 
A few days later. Garibaldi, with exemplary mag- 
nanimity, resigned his leadership to Victor Emmanuel 
and retired to the isle of Caprera. These two noble 
and high-souled men were bound together by the 
closest sympathies ; both possessed the same open- 
ness of disposition, the same readiness for enterprise, 
the same ardent love for Italy ; indeed, they well 
typify the full and complete harmony existing be- 
tween the Italian people and the dynasty of Savoy. 

Now, the duty of accomplishing the work so 
gloriously begun by the volunteers, devolved on the 
regular army. On the 2nd of November, the fortress 
of Capua was taken and Gaeta was besieged. The 
difficulty of this investment was increased through the 
obstacles offered by the French fleet to the blockade 
by sea. Victor Emmanuel, thereupon, remonstrated 
with Napoleon III., pointing out that this was a 
violation of the Emperor's own principle of non-inter- 
vention, so, in the January of 1861, France withdrew 
her fleet. Gaeta, hemmed in by land and water, was 
soon reduced to extremities and, on the 12th of 
February, Francis II. embarked on a French vessel 



284 THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' 

to take refuge in the Papal States, and the following 
day, the fortress surrendered. Later on, the garrisons 
of Messina and Civitella Del Tronto laid down their 
arms, and thus Victor Emmanuel's power was now 
recognised throughout the whole kingdom.^ 

In February, 1861, the first Italian parliament met 
in Turin. In his inaugural address, the King made 
special mention of his gratitude to the English : 
" The government and people of England — that 
ancient home of liberty — have stoutly affirmed our 
right to be the arbiters of our own destinies, and of 
that ready sympathy, so freely bestowed, we shall 
always cherish a grateful memory." 

Although Victor Emmanuel was now reigning over 
the greater part of the peninsula, nominally he was 
simply ' King of Sardinia.' On celebrating his birth- 
day, on the 14th of March, parliament unanimously 
voted in favour of declaring him ' King of Italy,' and, 
on the 17th of March, i86i,this proposal was ratified 
by the law of the realm. In this same month, the 
new kingdom of Italy was formally recognised by 
England and, in the following April, by Switzerland 
and the United States of America. 

' Francis II. died on the 27th of December, 1894, without leaving 
descendants ; his claims were then supported by his brother Alfonso, 
Count of Caserta, who lives at Cannes. 




O o 



£: e 



XVI 



THE ROMAN QUESTION 



Great events had happened in a very short time, 
but two momentous difficulties still demanded solution 
— Rome and Venice. Cavour, whose courage and 
strength of mind were rather increased than daunted 
by overwhelming perplexities, now resolutely set him- 
self to solve the Roman question. 

On the nth of October, i860 — that is to say, at 
a time when the Bourbon army was still being actively 
mobilised, when nearly all the representatives of the 
Powers had been recalled from Turin, and the Emperors 
of Austria and Russia, as well as the King of Prussia, 
were assembling in congress at Warsaw to concert 
action against Piedmont — Cavour made a speech in 
the Chamber on the necessity of Rome becoming 
the capital of Italy. His remarks ran as follows : 

"For a minister to have to express an opinion on 
the great questions of the future is a serious matter. 
However, I maintain that a statesman, in order to be 
worthy of the name, ought to have certain fixed 
points, which should be, so to speak, the pole-stars 
to guide his course, and although he mu}' reserve 



CAVOlfR PJWPOSF.S ROME AS CAPITAL 28/ 

to himself the option of changing such, as events 
shall dictate, he should none the less keep his eyes 
fixed on the beacon which, for the time being, 
happens to be his chosen one. During the last 
twelve years. King Victor Emmanuel has been the 
pole-star which has led us to the ideal of national 
independence ; how will this affect Rome ? (Signs 
of marked attention.) Our star, gentlemen, I frankly 
avow, points to that Eternal City which is clothed 
with the accumulated renown of twenty-five centuries, 
as the glorious capital of the kingdom of Italy. 
(Loud and prolonged cheers.) 

" But perhaps such an assertion will not fully satisfy 
the honourable member who has asked what means 
we have of attaining this end. I might answer him 
thus : ' I will reply to you, provided you first tell me 
what will be the state of Italy and Europe in six 
months' time ; but if you cannot furnish me with 
the data for the solution of this problem, I fear that 
neither I, nor any of the calculations of diplomacy, 
can give you the unknown quantity you seek for.' 
(Laughter.) However, gentlemen, if I cannot 
indicate the particular means, I can point out what 
seem to me to be the great factors which will enable 
us to attain our end. . . . 

" I believe that the solution of tlie Roman question 
ought to be the outcome of that conviction which 
is ever deepening in modern society — above all, in 
the minds of the Catholic community — namely, that 
liberty is highly favourable to the development of 
genuine religious feeling. (Bravo ! hear, hear !) 
When this opinion shall be generally held, gentle- 



288 THE ROMAN QUESTION 

men — and the behaviour of our arm}^, as well as the 
action of our gracious King", alike tend to show it 
will not be long first — when this opinion shall have 
acquired force in the minds of other populations and 
shall have taken firm root in men's minds, then, I 
unhesitatingl}' affirm, will the great majority of sincere 
and enlightened Catholics recognise that the august 
Pontiff, who is our Church's Head, will be enabled to 
exercise his sublime functions far more freely and 
independently, when supported by the affection and 
respect of twenty-two millions of Italians, than if 
defended by twent}'-five thousand ba}'onets." 

Shortly after the annexation of the kingdom of 
Naples, the fixing of the capital became a burning 
question. Turin, situated as it is on the furthest 
frontier of Italy, could not be the most important city 
of a kingdom that reached to the outermost limits 
of Sicil}'. In March, 1861, the Roman question was 
submitted to parliament, and on the 25th of the same 
month Cayour uttered these memorable words : — 

" The question of the capital, gentlemen, is not 
determined either by climatic, topographical or even 
strategic reasons ; if such as these had weight, it is 
certain that London would not be the capital of Great 
Britain, nor, perhaps, would Paris be that of France. 
The choice of a capital is influenced rather b}- 
great moral reasons, and it is popular feeling which 
decides such questions. Now Rome combines all 
the historical, intellectual and moral conditions which 
ought to hold sway in the capital of a great state ; she 
is the only one among the cities of Ital)' that has not 
exclusively municipal traditions ; her whole record. 



CAVOUR SEEKS TO CONVINCE CATHOLICS 28'/ 

from the time of the Caesars down to the present, 
is the history of a city whose importance infinitely 
transcends that of her own territory and is, therefore, 
pre-destined to be the capital of a great state. 
Convinced, nay, profoundly convinced as I am of 
this truth, I feel compelled to publish it to you, as 
well as to the nations, in the most solemn terms, and, 
under such circumstances, feel bound to appeal to the 
patriotism of all Italians and those who are the 
representatives of Italy's most illustrious cities. 
Therefore, let discussion on the subject be at an end, 
so that we ourselves, as well as those who have the 
honour of being our country's envoys to foreign 
Powers, may be able to declare to Europe : ' The 
necessity of making Rome the capital is recog- 
nised and proclaimed by the entire kingdom.' 
(Cheers.)." 

The debate on the Roman question lasted till the 
27th of March : on that day, Cavour concluded his 
arguments thus : — 

" The Ministry has shown you that it hopes to solve 
the Roman question by convincing sincere Catholics 
that the Church's independence is not in the least 
prejudiced by amalgamating Rome with Italy ; that, 
if such a principle were admitted by the faithful 
themselves, agreement with France — who in this 
matter represents, and holds she ought to represent, 
Catholic society — would be facilitated ; that, if 
good Catholics were thus convinced, and agreement 
with France were established, we should have 
grounds for hoping that the Pontiff himself would 
recognise the soundness of our contention, but that, 

20 



290 THE ROMAN QUESTION 

if he did not do so, the responsibihty of what 
might afterwards happen would not rest with us. 

" It appears to me impossible to formulate in more 
precise terms this programme, of which an adequate 
resume has been made from the order of the day by 
the deputy, Buoncompagni. Nor, gentlemen, let it 
be said that I am deceiving myself. It appears 
to me that the question of the independence of the 
Sovereign Pontiff being made to hinge on the tem- 
poral power, is an error which can be mathematically 
demonstrated to good Catholics. With the latter 
we would thus reason : the temporal power is a 
guarantee of independence when it furnishes its 
possessor with arms and money to defend the same, 
but when these temporalities of a prince, instead of 
supplying him with arms and money, oblige him to 
go and beg both from other governments, it is evident 
that such a temporal power as this is an argument 
not for independence, but for absolute dependence. 
(Bravo !) The man who lives quietly at home, with 
no debts and no enemies, seems to me a thousand 
times more independent than the wealthy owner of 
vast possessions, who has provoked the resentment 
of his fellow-citizens and can only go out protected 
by bersaglieri and soldiers. (Bravo ! hear, hear !) 
Hence it appears to me we ought to reckon on 
the support of good Catholics in this matter. 

" It only remains to persuade the Pontiff himself 
that the Church can yet be independent, though 
deprived of her temporalities, and to him I think we 
ought to make some such representations as the 
lollowing : ' Holy Father, the temporal power is 



CAVOUR APPEALS TO THE PONT/EF 29 1 

no longer a guarantee of your independence ; 
renounce it, and we will give you that liberty which, 
for three centuries, you have vainly sought from the 
great Catholic Powers, and of which you tried to 
snatch some vestige by means of concordats. By 




BETTING RICASOLI. 



these same concordats you, Holy Father, were 
obliged to concede — -in return for privileges, nay, 
less than privileges — the use of spiritual arms to 
secular governments who granted you some scanty 
measure of freedom : well, we are ready to offer n'ou, 
in all its fulness, that which you have never been able 



292 THE ROMAN QUESTION 

to obtain from those who boasted, nevertheless, of 
being your allies and devout sons ; we are ready to 
proclaim this great principle throughout Italy : " A 
free Church in a free State ! " (Hear, hear !) 

" ' Your partisans among the faithful recognise, as 
we do, the existing state of affairs, that is to say, they 
see that the temporal power can no longer exist on 
its present footing. They suggest reforms to you 
which you, as Pontiff, are unable to carry out ; they 
propose the promulgation of laws based on principles 
which are at variance with the majority of those you 
are bound to defend. These friends of yours are 
always insisting on rebuking you for your obstinacy, 
but you maintain a stout resistance — and rightly so. 
We do not blame you when, to those who wish you 
to enforce 'conscription in the army, you answer 
that you will not impose compulsory celibacy on 
young men from the ages of twenty to twenty-five, 
that is to say, the age when the passions are strongest. 
We do not reproach you for objecting to a proclama- 
tion of religious liberty and educational freedom, for 
we comprehend your standpoint in the matter : you 
are bound to teach certain doctrines, hence, you 
cannot allow the right of teaching all kinds. It is 
impossible for you to accept the advice of your 
Catholic partisans, because they ask what is not in 
your power to give ; thus you are constrained to 
occupy an abnormal position as Father of the faith- 
ful and are now compelled either to keep the people 
under the yoke by the aid of foreign bayonets, or 
to assent to the principle of liberty and its consti- 
tutional and widespread application in the foremost 



PLEA FOR FREEDOM AV CHURCH AND STATE 293 

of the Latin nations — in the country which is, more- 
over, the natural home of CathoHcism.' 

" In my opinion, gentlemen, it is impossible that 
such a proposition as this, made in all sincerity 
and loyalty, should meet with any but a favourable 
reception. . , . 

" In proof of the sincerity of our proposals, I 
would remind you that these are conformable to the 
whole of our system. We believe that the principle 
of liberty should dominate all phases of society, 
whether religious or civil ; we would have it in 
economics as well as in the administration ; we want 
full and absolute freedom of conscience ; we desire 
all the political liberty compatible with the mainte- 
nance of public order, and hence, as necessary con- 
sequences of such a condition of things, we believe it 
needful to the harmony of the edifice we are raising, 
that this principle be likewise applied to the relations 
of Church and State. (Hear, hear.) . . . 

"In time, this truth will be endorsed by public 
opinion, and although I am unable to prophesy when 
it will be thus accepted — for by time alone do 
opinions acquire irresistible force — I do not think I 
shall be far wrong in predicting that, in a century 
which has been invaded by the locomotive, it will not 
be long before these ideas are generally received. 
When that happens, as I have already said, the 
concert with France will be easy. 

" I hope that, given these two conditions, that is to 
say, Catholics having been convinced, and the concert 
with France accomplished, we may come to an under- 
standing with the Holy Father. I do not wish to 



294 THE ROMAN QUESTION 

face the idea of such an agreement being impracticable, 
but I think that if we, on our part, offer no hind- 
rance to it, blame will not attach to us ; moreover, even 
supposing such agreement were not forthcoming, 
Rome could be united to Italy without fatal conse- 
quences, either to ourselves or to the Church. ..." 

The debate closed with the following motion — pro- 
posed by the deputy Buoncompagni — -being unani- 
mously carried : " The Chamber, having listened to 
the ministerial declarations, having ascertained that 
the dignity, decorum and independence of the 
Pontiff and the full liberty of the Church are secured, 
having agreed with France as to the application of 
the principle of non-intervention, and having desired 
that Rome, being chosen as the capital by universal 
suffrage, should be united to Italy, passes to the 
order of the day." 

After this, Cavour immediately proceeded to treat 
with Rome on the separation of the spiritual and 
temporal powers. But just at this time, an un- 
fortunate occurrence took place which was a source 
of keen vexation to the great minister. Whilst a 
discussion was going on as to the rank of the 
Garibaldian officers who had entered the regular 
army, some of the soldiers in question, imagining 
that the government did not justly estimate their 
services, incensed Garibaldi against Cavour, and 
stirred up afresh the memory of the former's bitter 
grievance occasioned by the cession of Nice to France. 
Garibaldi hastened to Turin and, in a painful scene 
in the Chamber, declared he would ne\'er shake 
hands with the man who had made him a foreigner 



ILLNESS A XD DEATH OE CAVOUR 295 

in Italy. The King was much hurt at this dissension 
breaking out between his two most eminent subjects, 
and tried to bring about a reconcihation. Finally, 
the disputants shook hands in the Armoury, of the 
royal palace at Turin. We have an eloquent proof 
that this reconciliation had been a sincere one, in a 
letter written by Garibaldi to Cavour on the 1 8th of 
May, 1 86 1, which contains these words: "Trusting 
in your superior capacity and strength of will to 
work the country's good, I shall await the voice of 
happy omen that shall summon me once more to the 
field of action." 

But now the health of Cavour, worn out by the 
labours of these last years and by the prolonged 
mental strain they involved, began to fail. He was 
struck down by fever on the 29th of May, 1861 ; on the 
2nd of June, he was up and at work all day, but in the 
evening had a relapse and, on the 6th of June, he died. 
Victor Emmanuel, who went in person to visit the 
great statesman on his death-bed, wished that his 
remains should repose in the Superga, near the resting- 
place of the members of the House of Savoy. It was 
a noble and kindly thought on the King's part, but 
Cavour had left instructions that his body should lie 
in the family grave in the village of Santena, near 
Chieri ; consequently, his wish was respected. 

Differences had often arisen between Victor 
Emmanuel and Cavour, but they were invariably made 
up, because both felt that concord in their relations 
was necessary to the country's welfare. Cavour always 
said that Ital>' could never have been united without 
Victor Emmanuel, but well did the latter understand 



296 THE ROMAN QUESTION 

that the exceptionally intricate difficuhies of Pied- 
montese pohtics had never been surmounted except 
for the powerful genius of his renowned minister. 

Lord Palmerston spoke of Count Cavour as one 
"whose memory will live embalmed in the grateful 
recollection of his countrymen and in the admiration 
of mankind, so long as history records his deeds : " 
Lord Russell alluded to him " as a man destined to 
stand conspicuous in history," whilst Sir Robert Peel 
declared him to be " the most conspicuous statesman 
that ever directed the destinies of any nation on the 
Continent in the path of constitutional liberty." And 
the estimates of these three great Englishmen who 
had such an excellent grasp of politics, have been 
ratified by posterity : already an entire generation 
has passed, yet the name of Cavour, instead of being 
obscured, becomes daily more illustrious, and the 
work he achieved seems more and more wonderful. 



With Cavour's death, the most glorious chapters of 
the story of Italian unification are brought to a 
close. The ministers who, in turns, succeeded him — 
Ricasoli, Minghetti, Rattazzi, Farini, La Marmora, 
Lanza, &c. — proposed to continue his methods and 
traditions, but none of them could mount to the 
heights he had scaled, or even approach them. 

It is true that the disadvantages under which the 
new kingdom laboured were immense ; the four 
dynasties of Naples, Tuscany, Modena and Parma 
were all aiming at recovering lost thrones ; Austria, 
from the fortresses of the Quadrilateral, was watch- 



DIFFICULTIES IN NEW KINGDOM '. BRIGANDAGE 297 

ing the growing nation with a suspicious eye and 
threatened invasion ; the thunderbolts of papal ex- 
communication were hurled against the lately-erected 
edifice, with intent to blast it ; Napoleon's policy of 
favouring Italian aspirations towards unity had been 
arrested by the clericalism which was now the para- 
mount influence in his viilieu, and, whilst nearly all 
the European Powers were mistrustful of Italy's resur- 
rection to an awakened life, the Garibaldian party was 
manifesting its impatience to wrest Rome from the 
Pope, and Venice from Austria. The populations of 
the various provinces, accustomed for centuries past 
to live divided, failed to amalgamate ; some of them, 
oppressed till now by tyrants who were the enemies 
of all progress, found themselves far in the rear of the 
march of civilisation ; the finances were exhausted ; 
the army was yet only in course of formation ; the 
administration was disorganised and as if that was 
not enough, brigands swarmed in the southern pro- 
vinces. 

Brigandage was the constant scourge of the south 
of Italy, in consequence of the feeble governments 
hitherto existing there, and now, between the dis- 
appearance of the ancient order and the establish- 
ment of the new, it rose again in all its evil strength 
and even assumed a political importance. The pro- 
scribed King, Francis II., who was then at Rome, sent 
arms and money as well as colonels' and generals' 
commissions to the most infamous malefactors, such 
as Cipriano La Gala, Crocco, Caruso and many others 
who infested the Abruzzi, the Basilicata and Calabria, 
Several thousand brigands rallied round these chiefs, 



298 THE ROMAN QUESTION 

and in 1861, a band actually succeeded in taking 
possession of the little town of Melfi. 

A short time after, in September of the same year, 
Don Jose Borjes, a Spanish adventurer and an en- 
thusiast for the legitimist cause, thought to reinstate 
the Bourbon sovereignty in the Two Sicilies, and to 
this end, disembarked on the Calabrian coast, put 
himself at the head of the brigands and, with them, 
occupied many villages of Calabria and the Basilicata. 
His troops preceded him, devastating, sacking and 
mxurdering as they went, but their leader soon per- 
ceived the Bourbon cause was but ill-served by 
wretches only animated by a greed for rapine. He 
decided therefore to renounce such followers, but before 
he could do this, the brigands, after having despoiled 
him of all he possessed, deserted him. With nineteen 
companions, he tried to reach the frontier of the Papal 
States in order to let Francis H. know by what 
depraved villains his cause was supported, but falling 
into the hands of the Italian troops, he was shot before 
he could fulfil his purpose. However, brigandage did 
not cease with the death of Borjes, but rather de- 
veloped in ferocity, though it lost, by degrees, its 
political character. To extirpate it, the government 
had to employ both arms and money, and also to 
enact and enforce with inexorable rigour, terribly 
severe laws ; but in fulfilling these functions, inglorious 
and painful as they were, the Italian army gave 
magnificent proofs of patriotic devotion. 

Meantime, the 'party of action ' — so called because 
it wished to take bold measures for the occupation of 
Rome and Venice — was promoting an agitation and, 




URBANO RATTAZZI. 



300 TilE ROMAS^ QUESTION 

in 1862, profiting" by the access to power of Urbane 
Rattazzi, a man of democratic tendencies, decided 
on initiating" the contest. Garibaldi himself organised 
armaments, but the government, iiitimidated by the 
attitude of Austria, was obliged to sequestrate a con- 
signment of arms at Sarnico and to arrest those who, 
in Brescia and Bergamo, were inciting the population 
to war. 

Just then, three hundred bishops, assembled at 
Rome from all parts of the world, presented a 
memorial to Pius IX., maintaining the necessity of 
upholding the temporal power. As if in response 
to this challenge, Garibaldi went into Sicily and to 
the cr)' of " Rome or death," began to enrol volun- 
teers. The government was seriousl}- embarrassed : 
Rome was still occupied b)' French soldiers, and 
Napoleon III., urged thereto b)' the clerical party, 
gave out that the entrance of Garibaldians into the 
Pontifical States would be considered b}- him as a 
declaration of war on the part of the Italian govern- 
ment. Rattazzi thus saw himself obliged to hinder 
any attempt that might be made b\' Garibaldi. The 
latter, with two thousand five hundred volunteers, 
arrived in Calabria from Catania, and took up a posi- 
tion on the heights of Aspromonte. There he found 
himself surrounded by a corps of hcrsaglieri, com- 
manded by Colonel Pallavicini. It was generally 
hoped among the Italians that no blood would be 
shed ; a few shots, however, were fired on either side, 
and Garibaldi was wounded (August 29, 1862). He 
was conducted to the fortress of Varignano, on the 
Gulf of Spezia, and being set a liberty a few months 
later, returned to Caprera. 



CAPITAL TRANSFERRED TO FLORENCE 3OI 

In the September of that year, there was a mass- 
meethig in London convened in Garibaldi's honour. 
British sympathies were cordially extended towards 
Italy, and Garibaldi, under the pretext of consulting 
celebrated English surgeons about his wound, started 
for London in March, 1864. He hoped, in reality, to 
induce the British government to concede him sup- 
port, as well as money, to carry on a war against 
Austria. All classes of society rivalled one another 
in showing their admiration ; never had Londoners 
received any guest with such intense and universal 
demonstrations of enthusiasm (April 11, 1864), but 
the government, although distinctly manifesting its 
good will, managed to divest this visit of any political 
character. 

All this time, the question of the capital had daily 
become a more pressing one ; even Napoleon saw 
that he must soothe the feelings of the Italians who 
fiercely resented the presence of French troops in 
Rome, and to this end, induced the minister, Minghetti, 
to assent to a convention, on September 15, 1864. By 
this argument France promised to withdraw her troops 
from Rome, but the Italian government was compelled 
to respect, and ensure respect for the frontier of 
the Papal States, and as a pledge that it had re- 
nounced the idea of making Rome the capital, the 
latter was to be transferred from Turin to Florence. 
Those Turinese, who in 1860-61 had loudly ap- 
plauded Cavour's plea for making Rome the capital, 
were much chagrined at the idea of the Savoy eagle 
abandoning the shores of the Po, to settle, not on the 
banks of the Tiber, but on those of the Arno. Riots 



302 



THE ROM 4 A QUESTION 



even, inimical to the ministry, broke out in Turin, and 
blood was shed. But, notwithstanding, the capital 
was transferred to Florence in 1865 — a year that 
happened to be the sixth centenary of the birth of 
Dante, when from all parts of the country, spon- 
taneous homage was offered to the birthplace of 
Italy's most illustrious poet. 




XVII 



THE "WAR OF 1 866 



From the beginning of 1861, Cavour had meditated 
an alHance with Prussia. When, on the accession of 
King William, General Alfonso La Marmora had 
been sent to congratulate the latter, he was instructed 
to represent to the Prussian government that, " in 
view of the analogy existing between the historical 
traditions of Prussia and Piedmont, Italians were 
wont to regard the former as a natural ally " — words 
which were to bear fruit in the future, although the 
time was not then ripe. When the first signs of 
enmity began to arise between Prussia and Austria, 
La Marmora happened to be at the head of the Italian 
ministry, and, at the instance of Bismarck, gladly 
carried this formerly- made suggestion into effect. 
Thus it was that, on the 8th of x\pril, 1866, a secret 
treaty was signed at Berlin, by which Prussia and 
Italy bound themselves to give reciprocal aid in an 
offensive and defensive war against Austria. The last- 
named power, seeing herself menaced on both sides, 
offered, through the mediation of Napoleon III., to 
cede Venetia to Italy, if the latter would abandon 



304 THE WAR OF 1 866 

the Prussian alliance, but Victor Emmanuel, always 
loyal to his promises, refused to accept such terms. 

On the 20th of June, war was declared against 
Austria. The command of the Italian army was 
vested in the King who chose General Alfonso La 
Marmora as the head of his staff, whilst to Garibaldi 
he entrusted the leadership of the numerous volunteers 
assembled from all parts. The King cherished the 
enterprising notion of sending Garibaldi to the Dal- 
matian coast where the valiant general might have 
successfully stirred up the people, and, by marching 
in the direction of Vienna, would have compelled a 
great part of the Austrian troops to have met him. 
Garibaldi was enthusiastic for this plan, but it was 
not followed, because in Victor Emmanuel's entourage, 
it was feared that the popular hero might thus 
acquire too much prestige, so the volunteers were 
consequently only despatched to the mountains of 
Tyrol. 

The Italian army, including the Garibaldians, con- 
tained mobilised forces to the number of more than 
two hundred and twenty thousand men, the greater 
part of whom were concentrated on the banks of the 
Mincio ; but a strong body, commanded by General 
Cialdini, was massed in the province of Ferrara, on 
the lower Po. The Austrian army was inferior in 
numbers, and comprised about one hundred and fifty 
thousand men, but it had the advantage of a strong 
position in the fortresses of the Quadrilateral, and was 
commanded by the Archduke Albert, 










Ai'AA. 



^1 i',»i 






y/}y- 



ALFONSO LA MARMORA. 



306 THE WAR OF 1 866 

On the 23rd of June, the Itahans crossed the 
Mincio ; on the 24th they encountered the Austrian 
soldiers on those same heights of Custoza which had 
been so fatal to the Piedmontese forces in 1848. The 
battle was stoutly and valiantly waged, but through 
lack of skilful direction, hardly a third of the Italian 
army assembled on the Mincio, was enabled to fight. 
La Marmora gave proof of much personal courage by 
galloping through the hottest of the fight, and him- 
self leading the various divisions to take up their 
positions, but he also displayed, at this crisis, his lack of 
the qualifications necessary to a commander-in-chief. 
The heroism of individual companies, acting con- 
fusedly and without unity of direction, as well as the 
valour of the King's two sons, the Princes Humbert 
and Amedeo — who received their baptism of fire in 
this campaign — all availed nothing : the Italian army, 
after a terrible struggle, had to beat a retreat and 
re-cross the Mincio. After the certain expectation 
of victory that had been cherished in Italy, the news 
of this engagement appeared a twofold disaster ; the 
losses of the army were greatly exaggerated, and 
terrible discouragement prevailed. 

Happily, affairs went better in Germany : on the 
3rd of July, Prussia dispersed the Austrian army 
at Sadowa. Then Austria, desirous of recalling her 
troops from Italy to defend her now apparently 
threatened capital, renewed her proposals — again 
through Napoleon — to cede Venice to Victor 
Emmanuel, but this time also, the King refused 
what seemed to all, a humiliating agreement. 

Hence it was decided on rigidly maintaining the 



PERSAXO : ATTACK OX LISSA 307 

offensive, and General Cialdini received orders to 
cross the Po and make his way into Venetia, whilst 
a great part of the Austrian troops had now left for 
Vienna. The Italian advance, therefore, was made 
comparatively easy ; by the 20th of July, Cialdini 
had reached the Piave. At the same time. Gari- 
baldi at the head of his volunteers, marched into the 
Trentino, overcame a desperate resistance at Bezzecca, 
and arrived within a few miles of the city of Trent 
itself 

The Italians trusted implicitly in the strength of 
their fleet, commanded by Admiral Persano, a man 
who had won a reputation far in excess of his deserts. 
During the first days of the war, he had remained 
absolutely inactive in the harbour of Ancona, whilst 
the Austrian admiral, Teghetoff, had displayed great 
audacity and resolution by boldly challenging his 
opponent to give battle. Finally, indignant public 
opinion coerced the government to give Persano 
orders to act at once on the offensive, or else to 
resign his command. On the i6th of July, Persano 
weighed anchor at Ancona and proceeded to attack 
the island of Lissa ; the assault was still being carried 
on when, on the 20th of July, the Austrian fleet 
appeared and at once engaged the Italian vessels. 
At this juncture, Persano left the flagship, the Re 
d' Italia, for the Affondatore which he kept out of the 
line of battle — an unpardonable act which being 
unknown, moreover, to the rest of the fleet, resulted 
in the latter being without any leadership whatever. 
In the meantime, Teghetoff, from his admiral's 
\essel, was directing an assault on the Re d'ltalia 



308 



THE WAR OF 1 866 



which suddenly sank with its commander, Faa Di 
Bruno, and six hundred men, of whom hardly a third 
were saved. Another Italian gunboat, the Paiestro, 
took fire, and Alfredo Cappellini who was in com- 
mand, seeing that a powder explosion was inevitable, 
had the wounded lowered on to other vessels, but 




ALFREDO CAPPELLINI. 



himself refused to quit his post ; a short time after, he 
and his three hundred sailors, to the cry of " Italy for 
ever ! " were blown into the air. The Austrian fleet 
thereupon retired in good order, without being 
molested by Persano who withdrew to Ancona 

The disaster at Lissa was a cruel blow to the 
Italians who had been so convinced of the superiority 



CESS /ON OF VENETIA TO ITALY 309 

of their own fleet to the Austrian. Admiral Persano, 
at first charged with treason, was afterwards deprived 
of his command for incapacity and neghgence. 

On the 22nd of July, Prussia concluded an armistice 
with Austria, without any preconcerted agreement 
thereon with Italy. Acutely anxious times were 
these for the Italian government ; for it well knew 
that Austrian forces, emboldened by their lately 
gained victories, might at any moment swoop down 
upon the peninsula. But necessity dictated an 
immediate suspension of arms which led to the 
armistice of Cormons (August 12th), and, ultimately, 
to the peace of Prague. By the terms of the latter, 
Austria ceded Venetia to Napoleon III. who made it 
over to Victor Emmanuel, after a local plebiscite had 
proved the inhabitants of that province unanimously 
in favour of annexation to the kingdom of Italy. At 
Vienna, a treaty relating more particularly to various 
Italian and Austrian interests, was concluded, and 
now it was that the Emperor of Austria restored to 
Italy her famous 'iron crown' which, in 1859, had 
been taken from Monza to Vienna. 

Certainly, the method by which Venetia had been 
acquired, was a humbling reflection for Italians, but 
when, on the 7th of November, 1 866, Victor Emmanuel 
made his entry into the beautiful city of the sea, as 
splendid in her festal adornment as in the glorious 
days of her prosperity, such reflections were forgotten 
in the absolute thrill of exultation that her people 
felt at being free from the foreigners' yoke, whilst 
they raised the joyful cry of " Italy for ever ! Long 
live the Kino; ! " 



XVIII 



ROME THE CAPITAL 



The Roman question still awaited solution. 
Napoleon III., in pursuance of the convention of 
1864, had, by degrees, withdrawn his troops from 
Rome : thus, by the end of 1 866, the seventeen years 
of foreign occupation were at an end. The Pontifical 
government now found itself face to face alone with 
its subjects. Thereupon, whilst some secret societies 
in Rome were seeking to foment an insurrection, the 
'party of action ' determined to interfere, and with the 
greater readiness, since Urbano Rattazzi was again 
at the head of the Italian ministry. Garibaldi 
traversed several provinces of the kingdom to incite 
the citizens to war. By September, 1867, the pre- 
parations for the rising were well matured, but on 
the 23rd of that month, the Italian government who, 
up till then had allowed them to go forward, was 
sufficiently influenced by the attitude of Napoleon 
III., now posing as the defender of the Pope, to have 
Garibaldi arrested and sent to Caprera where his 
movements were watched b)' four vessels. 

Notwithstanding the absence of Garibaldi, however, 



EXPEDITION OF CAIROLI BROTHERS 3II 

bands of volunteers were organised and marched into 
the Pontifical States. On the evening of the 22nd of 
October, an abortive attempt at revolt was made in 
Rome by Monti and Tognetti, two masons, who tried 
by means of a mine, to blow up the Serristori 
barracks, whilst a hundred young men took posses- 
sion of Porta San Paolo ; but this movement had 
scarcely broken out before it was quenched in blood. 
Hoping to find the city still in insurrection, the 
brothers Enrico and Giovanni Cairoli, with seventy 
followers, passed the frontier of the Papal States, to 
hasten to the aid of the insurgents : they descended 
the Tiber to within two miles of Rome, and there 
took up a position on the Monte Parioli, near a villa 
called Glori, in expectation of receiving news of the 
rising. They were surprised instead by a strong body 
of the papal police, and a hand-to-hand struggle 
rather than a battle ensued wherein seventy in all 
fell dead or wounded. Enrico Cairoli died on the 
spot : Giovanni, after receiving serious wounds, was 
made prisoner, but obtained his liberty through the 
mediation of an English bishop, only to drag out, for 
little more than another year, an existence full of 
suffering, caused by the wounds he had sustained. 
Thus, this valiant family, of which one had already 
fallen gloriously at Varese in the campaign of 1859, 
and another had died in Sicily of exhaustion during 
the toilsome march of 'the Thousand,' now yielded a 
fresh contingent to the band of Italian martyrs in the 
cause of freedom. A few days later, the papal troops 
surrounded a factory in the Trastevere quarter of 
Rome, wherein several patriots \\crc engaged in 



312 • ROME THE CAPITAL 

making cartridges. The besieged retorted on their 
assailants by fusillades and bombs, but were van- 
quished and in great part massacred. Among the 
dead was Giuditta Tavani-i\rquati who, in spite of 
her sex, had courageously assisted in the defence. 

Napoleon III., indignant at the aspect events had 
assumed in Italy, prepared a fleet at Toulon to go to 
the aid of the Pontiff: such a step was all the more 
promptly taken, seeing that Garibaldi had effected his 
escape from Caprera. On the night of the i6th ol 
October, the veteran hero had put out alone in a 
small boat, managed to evade the surveillance of the 
watchful crews, and had reached Maddalena whence 
he made for Tuscany. Meantime, Rattazzi, feeling 
himself incapable of coping with the existing state 
of affairs, resigned. During this ministerial crisis, no 
one had the courage to take decisive steps, and thus 
the Garibaldian movement made progress. Garibaldi, 
having arrived at Florence, publicly incited the 
population to war, and then went to put himself 
at the head of the armed bands already assembled. 
Having passed the frontier, he encountered and 
defeated the papal troops at Monterotondo, on the 
26th of October. But although a French division 
had disembarked at Civita-Vecchia, Garibaldi pre- 
vailed on his men to continue the struggle. On the 
3rd of November, there was another engagement at 
Mentana, where at first the old hero succeeded in 
routing the papal troops, but in the rear came the 
French soldiers. The volunteers, armed with bad 
muskets, could not hold out for long against the 
chassepots of the French, which, according to the 



ESTRANGEiMENT BETWEEN ITALY AND FRANCE 313 

opinion expressed in such mal-apropos terms by 
General De Failly, the commander of the expedi- 
tion, " worked wonders." Garibaldi, having retreated, 
disbanded his men, and, re-crossing the frontier, was 
once more sent back to Caprera by order of the 
Italian government. Thus failed the Garibaldian 
expedition of 1867. 

As if to emphasise the estrangement which these 
events produced between Italy and France, Rouher, 
the president of the French ministry, uttered the 
following words in the Chamber : " In the name 
of the French Government, we declare that Italy 
shall never take possession of Rome ; never will 
France tolerate such violence done to her honour and 
to Catholicism. If Italy marches on Rome, she will 
again find France blocking the way." 



However, the thoughts of all Italians were now 
fixed on Rome, and even in the December of that 
same year (1867), Giovanni Lanza, on assuming 
the office of speaker in the Chamber, announced 
" that all unanimously desired the accomplishment 
of the national unity," and that " Rome, through 
the very nature of things and the exigencies of 
the times, must, sooner or later, be the capital of 
Italy." Later on, when the growing animosity be- 
tween France and Prussia had caused Napoleon III. 
to desire a more close alliance with Italy and 
Austria, the government of the former stipulated, 
as a condition of such an alliance, that Rome 
should be evacuated by the French troops who 



314 ROME THE CAPITAL 

had returned there in 1867. Napoleon, still swayed 
b\' the clerical party, would not hear of this, so the 
plan fell through. After the first defeat sustained by 
the French in 1870, Napoleon asked help from Victor 
Emmanuel, without fixing any terms whatever. The 
King would gladly have gone to the assistance of his 
old ally of 1859, but public opinion in Italy was 
unfavourable to Napoleon III. ; besides, the Italians, 
although they had fought side by side with the 
French, in '59, had been allies of the Prussians in 
'66. Thus it was that, on the night of the 6th-7th of 
August, the council of ministers voted for neutrality. 

On the 24th of August, Prince Napoleon, the King's 
son-in-law, arrived in Florence to beg for the support 
of Italy, leaving the latter free to solve the Roman 
question as she would, but it was now too late. 

When, after the disaster of Sedan, the Parisian 
population rose and proclaimed the Republic, the 
Italian government felt itself absolved from the 
observance of the agreement made with the French 
Emperor in 1864 ; hence, the question of intervention 
in the Papal States could now be debated. Victor 
Emmanuel wrote a letter to Pius IX., in which he 
implored him, with filial affection, to consider the 
state of Italy and to renounce the temporal power, 
but the Pontiff replied that only violence would 
compel him to do the latter. 

On the 19th of September, the Italian troops, under 
General Raffaele Cadorna, arrived at the gates of 
Rome; on the 20th, after a short encounter at Porta 
Pia, they made a breach in the walls. Pius IX., who 
had merely wished to demonstrate the employ- 



J'ICTOR EMMANUEL'S SPEECH 315 

ment of armed force by the government, then gave 
orders to his soldiers to withdraw. Thus was effected 
one of the most important facts in modern history — 
the abohtion of that temporal power which, originally 
given by Pepin, had lasted for eleven centuries and 
had always hindered the unification of Italy. 

On the occasion of the opening of the new parlia- 
ment in Florence, on the 5th of December, 1870, 
Victor Emmanuel could, with just pride, exclaim : 
"With Rome as the capital of Italy, I have fulfilled 
my promise and crowned the enterprise that, twenty- 
three years ago, was initiated under the auspices of 
my magnanimous father. Both as a monarch and 
as a son, my heart thrills with a solemn joy as I 
salute all the representatives of our beloved country, 
gathered here together for the first time, and pro- 
nounce the words : ' Italy is free and united, it only 
depends on us to make her great and happy.' " 

The Italian parliament, before transferring its 
sessions to Rome, passed a law — known as the ' Law 
of Guarantees ' — by which the Pope was ensured the 
enjoyment of all his prerogatives and honours as a 
sovereign, was awarded the palaces of the Vatican and 
the Lateran, as well as the villa of Castel Gandolfo— 
all exempt from any tax or duty — and was assigned 
an annual income of three million two hundred and 
twenty-five thousand Italian lire. The Pontiff refused 
to recognise this law or to accept the allowance, and 
still persisted in maintaining his unavailing protest 
against the Italian government. 

On the 2nd of July, 1871, Victor lunmanuel entered 
Rome in state, and took up his abode in the palace 



3i6 



ROME THE CAPITAL 



of the Ouirinal — uttering the famous words : " We 
are at Rome and here we remain." The Chamber of 
Deputies monopohsed for its sittings the Monteci- 
torio palace, whilst the Senate took possession of the 
Madama palace — so called from Margaret of Austria, 
the daughter of Charles V., who formerly lived there. 




XIX 



ITALY AFTER 1870 



Italy, now finally made a nation, could turn all 
her resources to the development of interior progress. 
There was indeed much to be done, especially in 
Southern Italy and in Sicily, where the wretched 
systems of government had never aimed at pro- 
moting the welfare of the population. As an 
example, it will suffice to mention that, in 1859, 
the railroads in Piedmont and Liguria extended a 
distance of seven hundred and forty- four, in Lom- 
bardy, one hundred and eighty-four, and in Tuscany, 
two hundred and eighty-four miles ; in the Neapolitan 
provinces — an area corresponding to all the above- 
named districts taken together — they only covered 
one hundred and fourteen miles ; whilst in Sicily, 
whose area is as large as that of Piedmont, none 
whatever existed. Similar observations would tell 
with regard to the ordinary roads, postal and tele- 
graphic services, &c. : in Lower Italy, such a thing 
as trade hardly existed ; there were scarcely any 
industries to speak of and agriculture itself was 
much neglected, whilst as far as public education 

3iS 



INTERXAL PROGRESS 319 

was concerned, the prominent fact connected with it 
was an absolute ignorance of reading. Hence, those 
provinces had to be raised to the level of others, and 
every effort had to be made in order to keep up with 
the most civilised European nations : in this respect, 
it is only just to add that much has been alread)' done. 
As far back as 1871, five thousand eight hundred 
and eighty-six miles of railway lines had been laid, 
whose construction often involved the surmounting 
of great natural difficulties ; in this field, Italians had 
already highly distinguished themselves, considering 
that the year 1871 saw the completion of the Mont 
Cenis tunnel — the longest up till that time made, i.e., 
eleven miles.^ Many ordinary roads too were made; 
commerce received a remarkable impulse ; industries 
began to develop ; above all, schools were established. 
Naturally these internal improvements and the ex- 
penses incurred during the late wars had exhausted 
the finances of the state which had to exact heavy 
sacrifices from the taxpa}^ers, and here it is but just 
to recall the name of the minister, Quintino Sella, who 
chaillenged unpopularity for the sake of bettering the 
condition of the national exchequer. 

* 

Meanwhile, the generation which had accomplished 
the great work of the unification of Italy was 
gradually disappearing from the scene of its earthly 

' The St. Gothard tunnel through the Alps was constructed later ; 
it is nine and a quarter miles long : the works for the construction 
of the Simplon tunnel which will be more than seventeen miles 
in lengt'.i, are already on foot. 



320 ITALY AFTER 187O 

labours. On the loth of March, 1872, Giuseppe 
Mazzini, the man who had devoted his whole soul to 
forwarding the Italian revolution, died at Pisa. The 
fact that he had disapproved of the monarchical form 
assumed by the constitution, did not prevent him 
being justly venerated by all Italians as the first and 
most ardent champion of the unity and independence 
of their country. His remains rest in the Canipo 
Santo of his native Genoa. 

Among the deaths that occurred during these 
years must also be recorded that of Urbano Rattazzi 
who might have been called the head of the parlia- 
mentary party known as the ' Left,' otherwise the 
progressive. 

After Cavour's death, the power had nearly always 
been vested in the hands of the ' Right,' that is 
to say, with the conservatives, but through always 
having been the party of the government, it even- 
tually acquired decided unpopularity. The blunders 
made by its supporters and the excessive short- 
sightedness of their fiscal policy, provoked keen 
discontent throughout the country, so that in the 
very year in which, after long efforts, a balance was 
finally effected in the exchequer, the opposition was 
in the majority. On the 18th of March, 1876, the 
ministry, headed by Minghetti, resigned, and with the 
latter, the policy of the ' Right ' ceased to hold sway. 

Victor Emmanuel, as a good constitutional king, 
entrusted Agostino Depretis — then the leader of the 
'Left' — with the formation of a new ministry. This 
statesman, in a speech made a little before, at the college 
of Stradella, had traced out the main lines of the new 



DEATH OF VICTOR EMMANUEL AND PIUS IX. 32 1 

policy to be inaugurated ; it comprised the extension 
of the electoral franchise, the abolition of the grist- 
tax, reforms in communal and provincial legislation, 
as well as compulsory and free education, &c. The 
general election which took place soon after gave 
the ' Left ' an overwhelming majority, but innova- 
tions were gradually introduced and all violent 
upheavals were avoided. 

On the 5th of January, 1878, General Alfonso La 
Marmora died at Florence, and four days later, 
Victor Emmanuel — that valiant and loyal monarch 
who had, so to speak, personified the glory of the 
Italian Risorgimento — breathed his last at Rome after 
a short illness. Never were more imposing funeral 
obsequies rendered by a people to their ruler than 
those now celebrated in honour of the deceased 
king. He was buried at Rome, in the Pantheon — 
one of the few antique edifices preserved nearly intact 
until the present day — and over his tomb is the 
inscription : ' To the Father of his Country.' Victor 
Emmanuel was succeeded by his eldest son, Humbert 
I., then thirty-four years of age — ^married, ten years 
previously, to his cousin, Margherita, daughter of 
Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa — who, on assuming 
power, declared that his one ambition was to follo\\' 
worthily in his father's footsteps. 

A month afterwards, on the 7th of February, 1878, 
died Pope Pius IX. who had not only furthered the 
Italian cause by supporting the national movement 
at the outset, but, by his subsequent withdrawal from 
it and obstinate refusal to compromise, had materially 
paved the wa\' for accomplishing Italian unit)- which 

22 



322 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 

thus iiu'oh'ctl in its consummation no concessions 
to the Pontiff other than those affecting; the spiritual 
rights of the Church. 

Directly after the death of Tins IX. a conclave 
was held at Rome — now the capital of Ital}' — which 
will be ever memorable in the history of the Church for 
the absolutel)' complete liberty with which its func- 
tions proceeded ; it was quite the largest that had 
ever taken place : sixty-one cardinals were present, 
three alone being absent on this occasion. In only 
thirty-six hours, with marvellous unanimit)' and 
independcnth' of all difficulties involved by secular 
considerations, the man deemed most fitted to govern 
the Church — Cardinal Gioachino Pecci, then sixty- 
eight }'ears old, was elected to the papac)-. He 
assumed the title of Leo XIII. and continued, 
though with much greater intellect and ability, to 
pursue the polic}' of his predecessor. This s\'stema- 
tised opposition to the kingdom of Italy has often 
created serious embarrassments through the confusion 
thus wrt)ught in the consciences of many of the 
faithful, by the clashing" of the political interests of 
the papacy with their religious convictions. 

The standing quarrel between the kingdom of Italy 
and the Pontiff contributed to intensify the opposition 
of France who, after 1 870, had never ceased to evince 
her ill-feeling against ltal\- for the latter's failure to 
support her in the war against Germany. The 
Italian go\'ernment had sought to maintain friendly 
relations with all the Powers, without allying itself 
with any, but at the Berlin Congress of 1878, it had 
an opportun-it\' of verif)'ing the evil ct)nscc[uences of 



DEATH OF GARlIiALDI : liULOGY OF CARDUCCI 323 

this isolation. Italy had hoped, indeed, that Austria, 
on occupying Bosnia and Herzegovina, would have 
renounced her claims to the Trentino, one of the 
Italian provinces still subject to Austria, but these 
anticipations nmv proved futile. Later, the I'^'cnch 
occupied Tunis, a regi(jn regarding which Italy also 
had views. On the estrangement between the two 
Latin nations becoming more pronounced, the Italian 
government made (overtures to Germany who, in her 
turn, drew Austria into the league, and thus was 
formed that Trijjle Alliance which, cemented in 1882, 
was renewed in '87, '91 and '96, anfl still exists. 

Italy, in the meantime, had hjst her greatest hero : 
on the 2nd of June, 1882, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the most 
popular man of his time, died in his hermit-island of 
Caprera. " The gloritjus apparition," said Giosue 
Carducci, one of the most eminent Italian writers of 
to-day, in a speech made at Bologna, " the glorious 
apparition revealed to our childh(jod, the epopee of 
our youth, the vision of the ideal vouchsafed to our 
maturer years, has disappeared for ever, and the best 
part of our life is at an end. That blond, lion- 
like head, glorious as an archangel's, which, as it 
flashed along the shores of the Lombard lakes or 
under the Aurelian walls, recalled the old Roman 
triumphs, and struck fear and dismay into the heart 
of the enemy, now lies cold and motionless on a bed 
of death. That noble right hand which guided the 
helm of the Piemonte through Sicilian waters to fresh 
Italian victories, and, in its invincible might, struck 
down the enemy at Calatafimi with the steadfast valour 
of a paladin, is now lifeless. Eternally closed are those 



324 ITALY AFTER 187O 

eyes which sighted Palermo from the mountains of 
Gibibrossa — the eyes of the hero who estabhshed 
victory at Capua and made Italy one. The voice 
which rang out so clearly at Varese and at Santa 
Maria with the cry, ' On, on, my sons, on with the 
butt-ends of your muskets ! ' and from the conquered 
rocks of the Trentino, answered, ' I obey,' is for 
ever dumb. No longer beats that noble heart which 
neither despaired at Aspromonte nor broke at Men- 
tana, for Giuseppe Garibaldi has yielded to the fate 
which overtakes us all." 

* 
* * 

The various ministries of the ' Left ' which suc- 
ceeded one another after 1876, established compulsory 
elementary education, abolished the grist-tax, and 
reformed electoral legislation by granting a great 
extension of the franchise. The establishment of 
these reforms tended to minimise the differences 
between the two parties of ' Right ' and ' Left,' and 
Depretis, in order to keep himself in power, favoured 
the so-called Trasforniismo party, thus getting a 
majority of all shades of opinion which, not being 
committed to a formal programme that would have 
held it together, initiated a rapid decline in political 
morals. At the same time, in order to satisfy all the 
small local interests which had now become the sole 
guide of parliamentary policy, a perfect mania was 
developed for expending money on public works, 
especially on railways. LTnfortunately, this 'fad' 
coincided with the increased outlay on armaments — 
necessitated by Italy's more active participation in 




MARCO MINGHETTI. 



326 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 

European affairs — so that hardly ten years after a 
balance had been effected in the exchequer, a deficit 
was manifest, whilst to make matters worse came the 
additional expense of a colonial war. 

Since 1870, the Rubattino Navigation Company 
had established in the bay of Assab, on the Red Sea, 
a coaling-station for their steamers, which, ten years 
later, they ceded to the Italian government. The 
latter took possession of this roadstead without any 
primary intention of annexation or self-aggrandise- 
ment, but later let itself be carried away by the 
tendency — now^ so widespread throughout Europe — 
to colonial development, and early in 1885, with the 
idea of pleasing and perhaps of assisting England, 
then planning the conquest of the Soudan, sent 
troops to occupy Massowah. Frustrated in their 
design of aiding the English expedition, by the fall of 
Khartoum and the Mahdist victory, the Italian con- 
tingent now set about establishing friendly relations 
with John, the Negus of Abyssinia, in the hope of 
attracting the commerce of the interior to the port 
of Massowah, but failed nevertheless to propitiate 
that suspicious prince. One of the Abyssinian 
chiefs, Ras Alula, with an enormous army, now 
repaired to Dogali where he surprised and sur- 
rounded a column of five hundred Italians who, 
after fighting for eight hours, using all their am- 
munition and killing a great number of the enemy, 
were nearly all massacred (January 26, 1887). 

Preparations were then made on both sides for war. 
Having delayed operations till a favourable time of 
year (January, 1888), the A^egi/s arrived with a large 



CJ?/SP/'S COLONIAL POLICY 327 

army in sight of the fortresses occupied by the 
Itahan troops, but fearing to give battle, retired. 
Meantime, MeneHk, king of Shoa, one of his vassals, 
had rebelled against the Negus who was thus 
threatened on both sides, and it was while fight- 
ing this new enemy that he received the wound 
from which he soon after died (March, 1889). 
There were several pretenders to the Abyssinian 
crown, and for some time the country was a prey to 
civil war. 

The Italian government, headed by Francesco 
Crispi — who had succeeded Depretis on the latter's 
death in 1887, thought to profit by this state of 
affairs, and whilst it extended its possessions in 
the highlands, by occupying Keren and Asmara, 
allied itself with Menelik who, to triumph the 
easier over his rivals, made them the most ample 
promises. It seemed as if an era of prosperity might 
now be dawning for the new colony, to which Crispi 
gave the name of Erythrea. At the same time, an 
Italian protectorate was established over a vast zone 
of the Somali peninsula. Swayed by the now 
generally-felt enthusiasm, Crispi fondly imagined 
that he had laid the basis of a glorious future for 
Italy's colonial ambitions. 

But that year of 1889 presented a terrible deficit in 
the country's finances — amounting, in fact, to more 
than two hundred million lire. To rectify it, new taxes, 
little relished by the country, had to be levied, espe- 
cially as, owing to the impossibility of renewing the 
commercial treaty with France who was piqued by 
the too Germanophile policy of Crispi, one of the 



328 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 

principal cmtlets for the export of Italian products 
was now closed. Besides, the system of excessive 
and fruitless expenditure initiated by the state, had 
unhappily been adopted by the communes and 
provinces, and brought about a serious economic 
crisis. In January, 1891, Crispi fell from power, 
and was first succeeded by the Marquis Di Rudini 
and afterwards by Giolitti, who both managed by the 
pursuit of a more prudent policy, to reduce some- 
what the deficit. 

Meanwhile, the news from Africa was anything but 
satisfactory. Menelik had no sooner ensured the sub- 
mission of all Abyssinia, than he gave out that he had 
no intention of recognising the Italian protectorate. 
The dervishes also were a fresh source of annoyance ; 
they had been irritated by the Italian advance and, 
in the December of 1893, attacked the fort of Agordat, 
but were defeated, leaving a thousand of their dead 
and seventy-two standards behind them on the field. 

At this juncture, Crispi returned to the head of the 
government, and after suppressing the Sicilian risings 
which had broken out from purely economic causes 
a little while before, urged General Baratieri, governor 
of Erythrea, to further action in Abyssinia. Baratieri, 
in consequence, organised an advance against the 
dervishes, and in the July of '94, succeeded in 
expelling them from Kassala and in mastering this 
most important position which effectually secured 
the safety of the Italian colony on that side. In the 
meantime, the strained diplomatic relations between 
Italy and Abyssinia had resolved themselves into an 
open rupture. In view of the suspicious attitude 



330 ITALY AFTER 187O 

assumed by Ras Mangascia in the Tigre, Baratieri 
thought it well to anticipate the Abyssinian leader's 
movements and succeeded, by forced marches, in 
surprising and defeating him at Coatit and Senafeh 
in January, 1895, and hence was enabled without 
much opposition, to occupy all the Tigre. 

However, that this was only the beginning of the 
war, was hardly realised by the Italians. Ras Man- 
gascia implored the intervention of Menelik who 
managed to carry all Abyssinia with him in this 
struggle against Italy. Biding his time till the 
season was favourable, the Negus advanced with an 
army of more than one hundred thousand men, 
against whom the governor of Erythrea, insufficiently 
equipped, could only oppose a few thousand troops. 
This poverty of Italian resources was, in a great 
measure, due to the carelessness of the Ministry at 
home who lacked proper information in the matter, 
and pursued a bold policy of expansion without 
saying anything to the country or asking parlia- 
ment for the necessary means to prosecute it. 
Baratieri, flattered on all sides for his preceding 
victories, grew, at last, quite accustomed to a posi- 
tion that was, in reality, bristling with dangers. 

On the 7th of December, 1895, Major Toselli, at 
the head of only two thousand men, was attacked at 
Amba-Alagi by a numerous host of the enemy, and, 
after a long and heroic resistance, was, with the 
greater part of his men, killed. 

The Abyssinians now advanced and surrounded 
the fort of Makaleh whose small garrison, under 
Major Galliano, maintained a gallant defence for nearly 



MAKALEH CAPITULATES l BATTLE OF ADOWA 331 

a month, for General Baratieri found it impossible to 
venture on their relief The besieged, reduced to 
extremity through lack of water — the nearest supplies 
having fallen into the enemy's hands — had hero- 
ically decided to blow up the fort and fight their 
way through the Ab}'ssinian ranks, when Menelik, 
impressed by their bold resistance or by the memory 
of the heavy losses he had lately sustained, sent word 
to Baratieri that he would readily allow the garrison 
of Makaleh to march out with the honours of war, so 
they might rejoin the rest of the Italian troops con- 
centrated at Adigrat. It was under such conditions 
that, on the 26th of January, 1896, Makaleh capitu- 
lated. 

During this time, reinforcements had arrived from 
Italy, but the lack of proper commissariat organisation 
increased the difficulty of providing for the needs of 
the soldiers among those arid mountains so far from 
the coast. General Baratieri continued to act on the 
defensive, contenting himself, however, with preserving 
a vigilant attitude in face of the Abyssinians who, 
leaving Adigrat, now took the direction of Adowa. 
But eventually, impressed by the emphatic representa- 
tions of the Ministry — which desired to satisfy public 
opinion by reprisals — and judging that an advance 
would probably decide the foe either to attack the 
Italians in their entrenched positions or to retreat, 
Baratieri, on the ist of March, 1896, led his fourteen 
thousand men into action. 

The Abyssinians were encamped in the environs of 
Adowa. Either through their opponents' ignorance 
of the ground, or through the unmeasured impetuosity 



332 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 

of the first column, the wings of the Italian army 
divided, and the vanguard, instead of assuming a 
position wherein to wait the assault of the enemy, 
advanced as far as the latter's camp itself. The 
Ab3^ssinian troops, far outnumbering their anta- 
gonists, easily routed the first Italian column before 
the second could appear on the scene, and afterwards 
defeated, in turn, the second and third bodies of troops 
as they came up. 

Nearly a third of the Italian army was killed in 
this engagement — among the dead were Generals 
Dabormida and Arimondi as well as Galliano, 
the gallant defender of Makaleh, who had, just 
before, been promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy for 
distinguished merit — whilst another third, which in- 
cluded General Albertone, was taken prisoner. In 
spite of his victory, Menelik dared not advance further, 
and General Baldissera, who had just arrived at 
Massowah to supplant Baratieri ^ in the supreme 
command, proved himself apt in re-organising the 
troops of the colony and in minimising the con- 
sequences of the defeat. 

The news of the disaster at Adowa provoked keen 
indignation among the Italian people who, not 
unreasonably, accused the government of having 
failed, through want of knowledge, in the manage- 
ment of a difficult undertaking, and this feeling was 
generally approved by the nation. On the 5th of 
March, 1896, the Crispi ministry fell, without so much 
as venturing to challenge a vote of the Chamber. 

' Although General Baratieri was tried by court-martial for his part 
in the affair, he was acquitted. 



PEACE-TREATY CONCLUDED l BANK-SCANDALS 333 

Its colonial policy had never been popular in 
Italy, for the country was not rich enough to cope 
adequately with such undertakings, and the terri- 
tory to be annexed promised no great resources. 
The unfortunate issue of the African campaign 
went to prove that the nation at large had more 
good sense in this matter than the government which 
now had been much discredited in public opinion. 
The new ministry, directed by the Marquis Di 
Rudini, openly declared its desire to abandon Crispi's 
colonial policy, and set on foot negotiations for peace 
as well as for the release of the Italian prisoners in 
Abyssinia. After long and wearisome discussions, 
the captives were liberated, and a peace treaty was 
concluded, by which Italy renounced her claim to the 
Tigre and confined herself to the territory bounded 
on the south by the Mareb-Belesa-Muna line. Later, 
the fortress of Kassala was ceded by the Italian 
government to the English, as useful to the latter 
for their Soudanese expedition. 



For some time past the state of internal affairs 
in Italy had been such as to warrant much popular 
discontent. Serious abuses had been discovered in 
the administration of some of the principal banks 
— especially in the Roman Bank — and evidence 
had come to light of the excessive favouritism 
shown to many politicians. Thence had arisen 
prosecutions which had served to convince the 
general public of the corruption that existed in 
certain political spheres, and although these trials 



334 ITALY AFTER 1 87O 

had ended in acquittals, they hardly served to allay 
the disgust generally felt. Felice Cavallotti, the leader 
of the extreme ' Left,' had carried on, by means of 
his speeches in parliament and his published writings 
on the subject, a regular campaign on this so-called 
' moral question,' and had attempted, at the same time, 
to bring about the downfall of Crispi who was then in 
power. As we have seen, the Crispi ministry actually 
fell, owing to the turn taken by African affairs, but all 
that had been said and written on the bank-scandals 
had created such an unpleasant impression on the 
public, that the extreme parties in the state — the repub- 
licans and socialists on the one hand and the clericals 
on the other — found ample opportunity for their 
propagandist designs. Whilst the Hberals — who 
had been in power for so long and were flattering 
themselves, perhaps, that they were to stay there for 
ever — abandoned themselves to the most absolute 
inertia, the clericals and socialists alike displayed a 
political activity truly marvellous. 

At such a crisis, embittered by the universal dis- 
content provoked by the African campaign and the 
bank-scandals, came the rise in the price of bread — 
owing to the Hispano-xA.merican war. In some 
provinces of Southern Italy where, owing to specially 
aggravating conditions in the past, the hardships of 
the people are undoubted, the prevailing distress 
caused riots to break out, as they had done a few 
years before in Sicily. This time, owing to the 
political reasons mentioned above, the movement 
found an echo in Upper Italy, and especially at 
Milan where the extreme parties were carrying on an 



TURIN ExiiiBirio\ : cEXSus o/' 1881 335 

active propaganda. The rising was promptly sup- 
pressed (May, 1898), but the nation at large was 
much grieved at seeing this attempt to destroy the 
great work of Italian unity that, only a few years 
before, had been achieved by such sacrifices. 

Happily, a cheering distraction to these sad 
thoughts was now afforded by the splendid spectacle 
offered by the Turin Exhibition. The vigorous 
Piedmontese city — which instead of giving way to 
depression when reft of its proud position as capital, 
had but steadily increased its prosperity by centring 
its powers in the development of trade and industry 
— now invited Italians to celebrate the jubilee of the 
Statute by an industrial exhibition. For six months 
(May-October, 1898), crowds of visitors were at- 
tracted by the exhibits which amply showed the 
magnificent progress achieved by Italy during the 
last half-century, and served, likewise, to demon- 
strate how great were the improvements made, how 
enormous the advantages gained, not only by the 
acquisition of freedom, but by concentrated, steady 
and serious application to work. Thus, that city 
which had been the cradle of the Italian Risorgimento 
was now the first to cheer the hearts of the people 
and raise their drooping spirits by its stirring example. 



The last Italian census took place on the 31st of 
December, 1881, and the result gave a population of 
twenty-eight million four hundred and fifty-nine 
thousand six hundred and twenty-eight inhabitants. 
As the extent of the kin^flom is one hunch^ed and 



336 ITALY AFTER 187O 

ten thousand six hundred and seventy-five square 
miles, tliis gave two hundred and fifty-seven persons 
to a square mile. In 1900, a new census will be 
taken : from mathematical calculations made as to 
the estimated increase of inhabitants, it can be fairly 
affirmed that to-day their number amounts to about 
thirty-one million and a half, namely, two hundred 
and eighty-five to a square mile — nearly double what 
it was in 1748.^ 

Some cities, in particular, have developed an 
extraordinary increase in their populations during the 
last few years and, above all, Rome. In 1871, the 
inhabitants were reckoned at two hundred and forty- 
five thousand ; to-day, that number is doubled, and 
they amount to nearly half a million. Naturally, 
such an increase in the population presupposes a 
proportionate development in buildings ; thus, Rome, 
from a material point of view, is no longer what she 
was thirty years ago, but has begun to assume the 
aspect of a great modern city that boldly rises beside 
the ruins of the Forum and the Basilica of St. Peter. 
The Holy Father still persists in his disapproval of 
the Italian revolution, and lives secluded in the huge 
palace of the Vatican. The Cardinals however and 

' The calculation of the number of inhabitants by the Director- 
General of Statistics, on the 30th of June, 1897, would give a population 
of 31,384,853 inhabitants, divided as follows: Piedmont, 3,353,162; 
Liguria, 985,685 ; Lombard}', 4,070, 149 ; Venetia, 3,108,669; Emilia, 
2,302,981 ; Tuscany, 2,321,369 ; Marches, 977,506 ; Umbria, 608,515 ; 
Latium, 1,031,598; Abruzzi and JMolise, 1,391,551; Campania, 
3,153,003; Apulia, 1,882,412; Basilicata, 548,981 ; Calabria, 1,346,880; 
Sicily, 3,543,71^ ; Sardinia, 758,674. — Miiiisfero di Agriailtitra, 
fiidiistria e CoiiDiiercio. Movimento Dello Stalo Civile DelF Anno 1897. 
Roma, 1898. 




H. R. H. THE PRINCESS OF NAPLES. 



338 ITALY AFTER 1 87O ' 

other functionaries of the papal court fully appreciate 
the increased moral and material advantages of the 
city; respected by all classes, they develop their reli- 
gious, political, social and inner life, unhindered by 
any difficulties whatever, and maintain relations both 
public and private, direct and indirect, with the repre- 
sentatives of Italian liberalism, including ministers, 
senators, deputies and functionaries of the state. 
The same liberty is extended to the celebration of 
religious festivals in Rome, as to those national /i'/^j- 
observed by the liberals. Thus do facts themselves 
prove that there is room in Rome itself both for the 
Head of Catholicism and the King of Italy. In time, 
the papacy will no doubt be gradually persuaded that 
it is only despoiled of its temporalities the better to 
fulfil its spiritual mission, and thus it will eventually 
be reconciled to new Italy. 

The Italian throne is hereditary in the house of 
Savoy, according to the Salic law — that is to say, 
female succession is excluded. The present sovereigns, 
King Humbert I. and Queen Margherita, have only 
one son, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, born 
in 1869 and married in 1896, to Princess Helene of 
Montenegro. Prince Amedeo however — King Hum- 
bert's brother — who was King of Spain from 1871 
to 1873, and died at Turin in 1890, has left four sons : 
Itmanuele, Duke of Aosta, married to the Princess 
Helene of Orleans — b}- whom he has one son, Amedeo, 
2 1 St of October, 1898 — Vittorio, Count of Turin; 
Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi, who has latel)' started 
on an expedition to the North Pole, and Umberto, 
Count of Salemi, 



\-(l«^^ 



^ 




PRINCE AMADEO. 



340 ITALY AFTER 1 87O 

The King receives an annual allowance from the 
state-exchequer of fifteen million lire. He wields the 
executive power by means of ministers of his own 
nomination, and shareswith the Chamber in the making 
of the laws. There are two Chambers : (i) the Senate, 
composed of an unlimited number of members — never 
amounting, however, to four hundred — nominated for 
life by the King and chosen from an established 
category of notables ; at the present time, the barris- 
ter, Giuseppe Saracco, who has been in the ministry 
several times, is president of the same ; (2) the 
Chamber of Deputies, composed of-five hundred and 
eight members, elected in as many electoral centres, 
for five years, with a correspondingly wide suffrage ; 
the president of the Chamber is now the barrister, 
Giuseppe Zanardelli, who has likewise filled ministerial 
functions.^ 

There are actually eleven ministerial offices in 
Italy, comprising those of the Interior, of Foreign 
Affairs, of Grace and Justice, of the Treasury, of 
Finance, of War, of the Marine, of Public In- 
struction, of Public Works, of Agriculture, Industry 
and Commerce, as well as that of Posts and Tele- 
graphs, 

The balance sheet,during the last few years, approxi- 
mates to the figure of one thousand seven hundred 
million lire^ in which receipts are about equalled by 
the expenditure.- The principal incomes are derived 

' In May, 1899, in consequence of a ministerial crisis, the President, 
Zanardelli thought fit to tender his resignation : the barrister, Luigi 
Chinaglia, was then nominated President of the Chaml)er. 

'^ The receipt and expenditure accounts of the financial year, from tlie 



TAXES : THE ARMY 34I 

from the land-tax of one hundred and six million 
lire ; from that on buildings, eighty-eight million ; 
that on movable property, two hundred and eighty- 
six million ; on the rights of succession, forty million ; 
on registration and stamp duties, one hundred and 
twenty-five million ; on customs, two hundred and 
forty-five million ; on the tobacco monopoly, one 
hundred and eighty-eight million; on that of salt, 
seventy-four million ; from lotteries, sixty-five million, 
&c. Naturally, in expenditure, the highest sum is 
absorbed in the interest of the public debt — amount- 
ing to about six hundred million — and by the mili- 
tary exchequers — that of war, absorbing two hundred 
and thirty-six million, that of Marine, one hundred 
million lire. 

The Italian army is based on the theory of military 
service being obligatory on all citizens : at the age of 
twenty, all young men whose physique warrants them 
to be capable of serving in the army, inscribe their 
names on the army list, and have to serve two or 
three years ; those who have a superior education 
and pay a tax of twelve hundred ItJ-e, only remain 
one year under arms. Thus, every year there is a 
force of about two hundred and fifty thousand men 
ready for service, but as they may also be bound to 
serve, after they have received instruction, till the age 
of forty, an army of nearly a million and a half of 

1st of July, '96, to the 30th of June, '97, gave, on the side of income: 
1,745,497,676 lire, and on that of expenditure, 1,745,370,744. The 
estimated balance from the ist of July, '97, to the 30th of June, '98 : 
income, 1,685,273,752, and expenditure, 1,677,654,347 ; the estimated 
balance from the ist of July, '98, to the 30th of June, '99 : income, 
1,696,791,355 ; and expenditure, 1,686,793,409. 



342 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 

men would thus be mobilised in time of war. All the 
latest inventions of science and industry have been 
applied in the army, such as new repeating rifles, 
cannon and smokeless powder. 

The navy has also been largely developed within 
the last few years, more especially through the efforts 
of the ministers Brin and Saint-Bon, and it is as well 
it should be cared for, considering the conformation of 
the peninsula. Long ago. Napoleon I., speaking of 
the future unity of Italy, declared that to realise " the 
first condition of existence," Italy ought to " become 
a great maritime power, so as to dominate her islands 
and defend her coasts." The glorious traditions of 
the Italian marine republics were worthily represented 
in those colossal warships of which Italy gave the 
first exemplars to the world, and in her arsenals at 
Spezia, Venice, Taranto, Naples and Castellamare, she 
carries on her shipbuilding with indefatigable zeal. 

After the record of military expenditure comes next 
in importance, by reason of the sums disbursed, that of 
public works on which, reckoning ordinary and extra 
expenses, are laid out nearly one hundred million 
lire. Certainly much has been done, especially 
as regards railroads, so that in twenty years alone, 
the total distance covered by railway lines has been 
doubled, and to-day amounts to more than fourteen 
thousand four hundred and ninety - two miles. 
Everywhere, too, good carriage roads have been 
constructed; the harbour conditions have been bet- 
tered ; marsh lands ha\'e been vast!)- improved, and 
other important public works have been set on foot. 

* 
* * 




H. R. H. THE PRINCE OF NAPLES. 



344 ITALY AFTER 187O 

The country has received a beneficent impulse 
from these ameliorations in its condition, and the 
industrial movement has become a powerful one, 
especially in Lombardy and Piedmont. Agriculture 
has indeed made strides, so that the great disparity 
existing between the total of Italian imports and 
exports is now sensibly if gradually diminishing ; the 
difference during the last few years is a little over 
a hundred million lire — a very considerable figure.^ 
The principal exports of Italy are silk, wine, olives, 
hemp, fruit, eggs, sulphur, &c. ; but she has to import 
grain — of which she does not herself produce enough 
for home consumption — coal — of which she is desti- 
tute — and iron, &c. At this very time (January, 
1899), a treaty of commerce has been concluded 
with France and those relations re-established which, 
for ten years, were almost entirely interrupted, to the 
mutual loss and detriment of both countries. 

Not only have the hygienic conditions of Italy been 
distinctly improved by the introduction of waterworks 
throughout the towns — great and small — and by the 
wholesale demolition of insanitary quarters, but every- 
where, even in the most remote districts and insignifi- 
cant villages, elementary schools have been instituted 
to combat that lamentable ignorance of letters, so pre- 
valent under the old regimes. With regard to these 
establishments, much yet remains to be done, since, 
although in Piedmont nearly every one can read, and 

' In '95 the total of imports was 1,187 niilHon litr and the total of 
exports 1,037 niilHon ; in '96 the imports were 1,173 million and the 
exports 1,052 million ; in '97 the imports amounted to 1,192 million, 
but the exports rose to 1,092 million. 



ITALIAN LIFE AND THOUGHT 345 

in the rest of Upper Italy there are only a few persons 
who cannot do so, the numbers of the illiterate in- 
crease continually towards the south, till, in Calabria, 
the percentage of the absolutely unlettered almost 
amounts to seventy-five in a hundred ; this explains 
why the average percentage of the uneducated is still 
so high in Italy; in 1895, out of one hundred con- 
scripts, thirty-eight could not read, although, whilst 
serving their term in the army, they nearly all learned 
to read and write.^ 

The secondary schools are very numerous through- 
out the kingdom, as also are the universities, seven- 
teen of which are dependent on the government, four 
being free. Naturally, the most frequented is that of 
Naples — as the only one in Southern Italy — which 
numbers more than five thousand students. Next in 
order come the universities of Turin, Rome, Bologna, 
Padua, Pavia, Genoa, Palermo, Pisa, &c. There are 
also higher grade schools, such as those of Florence 
and Milan. 

It must always be borne in mind that all the 
different phases of Italian life and thought have so 

' With regard to this question every year sees an improvement ; for 
example, in 1890, the average number of husbands unable to sign the 
marriage register was 41 out of 100 ; in 1897, 36 ; the average of the 
women in '90 was 60 in 100; and in '97, 52. The disparity existing 
between different regions in this respect is truly enormous ; from a 
minimum of 4 per 100 furnished by the province of Turin, it mounts 
to 14 in the province of Milan, to 33 in that of Bologna, to 39 in that 
of Florence, to 41 in that of Rome, to 49 in that of Naples, to 62 in 
that of Salerno, to 66 in that of Messina, to 69 in that of Cagliari, to 
77 in that of Reggio-Calabria and to 78 in that of Cosenza. — See 
Movimento Dello Stato Civile DeWAmio {rSgy), published under the 
auspices of the Director- General of Statistics. 



346 ITALY AFTER 1 87O 

many centres of development, in the chief towns 
of the different provinces, for deeply-rooted local 
traditions have prevented a very pronounced centrali- 
sation. Thus Piedmontese life is moulded by Turin 
— with three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants — 
the city of even and regular streets which corresponds, 
as it were, with the character of its people. The 
delightful Ligurian coast, fringed with villages em- 
bosomed in olive-groves, fitly harmonises with the life 
around Genoa the Magnificent — with a population 
of two hundred and twenty-five thousand — famous 
for her marble palaces and stirring maritime 
activities which render her the first commercial 
port of Italy. The fertile Lombard region has 
its focus in busy, hardworking Milan — through 
the number of inhabitants which amounts to 
four hundred and seventy thousand, the third city 
in the kingdom — whose glorious cathedral over- 
shadows a great part of Italian commercial enter- 
prise. Venice, that magic city of the lagoons — 
which contains one hundred and sixty thousand 
inhabitants — continues to be one of the essentially 
artistic centres of the peninsula. Emilia and the 
Romagna provinces, from Parma to Ravenna — the 
former capital of the Ostrogoths and the venerated 
burial-place of Dante — recognise as their chief city 
time-worn Bologna, the oldest university town in 
Italy, with a population of one hundred and fifty 
thousand. Florence, with her placid traditions — her 
glorious ' humanities,' and her two hundred and ten 
thousand citizens, reflects, in the ' even tenor ' of her 
existence, as well as in her outward surroundings, the 



NAPOLEON I. ON CONFIGURATION OF ITALY 347 

whole of Tuscan life and temperament. Only Rome 
has, in a great measure, exchanged her local character 
for a cosmopolitan one. Naples, the most thickly 
populated of Italian cities — reckoning as she does 
five hundred and thirty-six thousand inhabitants — 
possesses quite distinct characteristics of her own ; 
there the pleasure-loving, gay and noisy life of 
the children of the south finds a fitting milieu; there 
are formulated the dictates of fashion and the verdicts 
of criticism which are unhesitatingly accepted by all 
the small provincial towns of Southern Italy. And 
the like characteristics may be applied to Palermo, 
with her population of two hundred and ninety 
thousand, in her relation to Sicily. 

Napoleon I., accustomed to the centralisation of 
French life, declared that the configuration of Italy 
had one fundamental defect, in the fact of its length 
being in nowise proportioned to its breadth, and he 
averred that " if Italy had had Monte Velino — nearly 
the height of Rome — for frontier, and all the territory 
situated between the hill in question and the Ionian 
Sea, Sicily included, had been placed between 
Sardinia, Corsica, Genoa and Tuscany, a unity of 
influences, manners, climate and local interests might 
have been hers." It must be owned that Napoleon's 
observation is in every respect just ; certain it is that 
the great obstacle which Italy found in reconstituting 
herself into a nation — an obstacle, vastly greater, 
for instance, than any France and Spain had to 
confront — was this very geographical configuration. 
Indeed, it is this very physical defect which, up till 
now, has hindered the formation of one single great 



348 



ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 



centre of Italian life, capable of giving a more pro- 
nounced impetus to the nation's activity, but although 
in one sense disadvantageous, it is, in another, 
distinctly beneficial, since it has called forth a noble 
rivalry amongst the various cities, and has largely 
promoted that great diversity of ideas which has 
been so fruitful in the spheres of literature and art. 




XX 



LITERATURE AND ART 



Although during the last hundred and fifty years, 
Italy has, through countless difficulties and incredible 
efforts, succeeded in attaining to the dignity of a 
great nation, achieved a unity befitting the same, and 
worked miracles in the area of politics, she can boast 
yet more justly of those great conquests which have 
made her name illustrious in the intellectual history 
of Europe. Her political regeneration was, in fact, 
preceded and accompanied by a renaissance in litera- 
ture and art, of which the second half of the last 
century saw the beginning ; allusion has already been 
made to it in the first chapter of this work in mentioning 
the most distinguished geniuses of that age. During 
the course of this narrative, it has often been necessary, 
in view of the essentially patriotic tendency and scope 
of all Italian literature, to refer more or less indirectly 
to many of its productions. It only remains to gather 
up here the scattered threads of its history in a 
coherent form. 

The poetic record of the eighteenth century had 
honourably closed with the illustrious names of Farini, 



350 LITERATURE AND ART 

Alfieri. INIonti and Foscolo. Parini died just at the 
end of the century (August 15, 1799), whilst Alfieri 
hardl}- saw the beginning of a new age, since he died 
at Florence on the 8th of October, 1S03, but the wide 
fame of \"incen/.o Monti 1^1734-1828) lasted for the 
first quarter of the nineteenth century. He was the 
leader, /^(V excellence, of the classic school in poetr)- 
which preponderated throughout the Napoleonic 
period. Having become the poet-laureate, he cele- 
brated the coronation, wars and marriage of 
Bonaparte, as well as the birth of the King- of Rome, 
in verse, all of which effusions did not prevent him, 
on the return of the Austrians, from h\-mning the new 
conquerors. Though gifted with a mar\ellous poetic 
insight, Monti cared chiefl}' for form, and enriched his 
work with an incomparable harmon\- and grace, but as 
regarded sentiments, he onl\- reproduced the trend of 
public opinion and timidly and cautiousl}- followed its 
stream — at that time rapidly changing. 

Of a ver\- different t\-pe was Ugo Foscolo (1778- 
1827) who, o\\ the return of the Austrians to Milan, 
retired first to Switzerland and afterwards to Fngland 
(1 8 16), where he passed his later years in teaching the 
British public to form a more just appreciation of 
Italian literature.^ A man, as he said of himself, " of 
many vices and virtues," of impetuous temperament 
and endowed with a vivid and robust imagination, he 
was certainly one of the most influential of Italian 

• Ugo FdscoIo died al Tiunliam C'licen, loih ofOctober, 1S27, and 
was l5urie<l in Chiswick churchyard : his remains were afterwards 
transferred, in 1S71, to the Chiuxh of Saiila Croce at P'lorence, which 
he had cclei.iraled in his Sipohri as the paiuhcon of Italian genius. 



CANOVA : AI'I'IANI : MdS/CAL COMPOS F.RS 35 I 

writers, and his rinc(in<^ and in.s[)irin^ verses exercised 
a wide fascination over the youth of our century. If 
poetry at this epcjch found its two most distinguished 
exponents in Monti and Foscolo, prose h'kewise had 
a wfjrthy representative of its classic trachtions in the 
historian, Carlo Botta (i 766-1 837), remarkable for the 
splendid form and breadth of style with which he 
describes and colrjurs e\'cnts, and justly called the 
' Italian Livy.' ' 

Classicism was, at that time, the dominant note in 
art, and in Antonio Canova (1757-1822) Italy could 
justly boast of an artist who had attained the acme 
of perfection in so-called 'academic' sculpture. Canova 
laboured indcfati<^ably all his life, leaving numerous 
works behind him, and the progress made by Italian 
sculptors in our times is, in a great measure, owing to 
their great jjredecessor. 

In painting, the most eminent representative of the 
classic school was Andrea Appiani ('1754-18 17), the 
imperial court painter, who adorned the palace at 
Milan, as well as the royal villa at M(jnza, with so 
many valuable frescoes. 

Whilst Ujjper Italy rejoiced in the above-mentioned 
illustrious names in literature, painting and sculp- 
ture, the South was producing a galaxy of eminent 
musical composers, headed by Cimarosa (i 754-1 801) 
and Paisiello (i 741-18 16). 

* 

Just at the time when Foscolo died and Monti was 

' Botta, who (lied at Paris in 1837, was buried in the cemetery of 
Mont I'arnasse whence, in 1874, his remains were removed to Santa 
Croce in Florence. 



352 LITERATURE AND ART 

already stricken with that paralysis which carried him 
shortly afterwards to the grave, the romance of / 
Proniessi Sposi oi Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) 
first saw the light. The writer was not altogether 
unknown, since his Inni Sacri and particularly his 
ode, // Cinque Maggio, written on the news of 
Napoleon's death, had already procured him a wide 
popularity. But / Proniessi Sposi was the author's 
cJief-cfceiivre, and has certainly been the most widely- 
read Italian romance of the century. Walter Scott 
himself told Manzoni — when the latter had avowed 
his debt of inspiration to the great novelist — that 
he considered / Proniessi Sposi his best work. 
Manzoni was the most illustrious champion of the 
new romantic school which, in Italy, signified ' Liberal- 
ism.' In his unaffected, limpid and thoughtful prose, 
he displayed an ardent love of freedom and justice, as 
well as a genuine sympathy for the poor and humble 
classes of society. But although perplexed by the 
problem of the world's injustice, it never provoked him 
to utter imprecations ; he is always the Catholic who 
hopes for the regeneration of his country, but preaches 
the virtue of resignation. 

What a vast difference between Manzoni and the 
other great writer, his contemporary, Giacomo 
Leopardi (i 798-1 837). In the first, the perfect 
balance between the reasoning and imaginative 
faculties adorned a life that was mostly tranquil and 
happy ; in the second, reigned a continual and jarring 
contrast between his colossal aspirations and the 
cramped surroundings of the little town of Recanati 
wherein he was compelled to live. Leopardi's 



LEOPARD! : AJ.lNZONl AND HIS SCHOOL 353 

existence was embittered alike by a feeble and 
sickly constitution which prevented him from en- 
joying life, and by the fury of the contending 
passions which raged within him : hence, that deep 
and rooted melancholy which caused him to see 
nothing but misery in humanity. Destitute of a 
faith both in a Divine Providence and in mankind 
itself, Leopardi's pessimism became day by day more 
complete and more desperate. This melancholy 
philosophy, expressed as it was in admirable form, 
in verse clothed with truly Hellenic beauty, exer- 
cised but limited influence over his contemporaries 
and was but ill-appreciated by them : it was doubt- 
less a good thing, for Leopardian scepticism was 
hardly calculated to educate the bold and enthusiastic 
generation necessary for the task of redeeming Italy. 
Thus it was that for a long time Leopardi remained, 
as it were, an isolated Titan, little appreciated and 
less understood, whilst Manzoni gathered round him 
a numerous school of imitators and disciples, amongst 
whom may be distinguished Tommaso Grossi (1791- 
1853), author of the romance oi Marco Visconti ; the 
poet-patriot, Giovanni Berchet (1783-1851); Massimo 
D'Azeglio ( 1 798-1 866), who was at once painter, 
statesman, soldier and romancist ; Silvio Pellico 
(1788- 1 8 54), the kindly author of Le Mie Prigioni — • 
one of the most popular books in the world ; Giovanni 
Ruffini (1807- 1 881), who, having emigrated to 
England, wrote several romances in English — in- 
cluding his Doctor Antonio and Lorenzo Benoni ; 
Cesare Cantu (i 804-1 895), who, however, is famous 
rather for his many historical publications and especi- 

24 



354 LITERATURE AND ART 

ally his Storia Universale, than for his romance, 
MargJierita Piiste^-la. 

Whilst this Lombardo-Piedmontese school of 
Manzoni preached moderation, it was, strangely 
enough, from peaceful Tuscany that the sounds of 
revolt were heard. They found expression in the 
fiery effusions of Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi of 
Leghorn (i 804-1873), whose exuberant and pas- 
sionate language voiced the aspirations of those 
Italians who panted to free themselves from their 
galling servitude, cost what it might. Guerrazzi 
had known Lord Byron at Pisa, and was so ardent 
an admirer of the great English poet's writings that 
for many years — by his own confession — he only saw 
and heard with Byron's eyes and ears : " This vast 
amalgamation of all the faculties of the soul and 
mind was the poetry of which I had dreamed but 
could not define. All the colours of the universe are 
mingled on the poet's pallet whilst his immortal pages 
teem with the wisdom of the old world and the new, 
with good and evil strangely blent, with sorrow in 
all its forms, its nameless pangs and unsuspected 
mysteries, and therein are sounded the unfathomed 
depths of the human heart, of its laughter, as of its 
tears. Such was the poetry I had dreamed of and 
which I now saw actually realised." Thus Byron 
may be regarded as the direct inspirer of Guerrazzi 
who, by his impassioned romances, — especially La 
Battaglia Di Benevento and UAssedio Di Firense — 
exercised a most extraordinary influence on the 
impressionable youth of his time, although his works 
hardly bear the test of dispassionate modern criticism. 



NICCOLINI : GJL'STI : PATRIOTIC POETS 355 

Giovan Battista Niccolini (1782-1861), a compatriot 
of Guerrazzi, also largely contributed to incite young 
Italy to destroy the yoke of the foreigner and to 
abolish the temporal power ; as a powerful tragedian, 
he worthily carried on the traditions of Vittorio 
Alfieri. But the genius of the Tuscan dialect was 
more adapted for playful sarcasm than for the ex- 
pression of strenuous and indignant protest, so that 
we see the natural and spontaneous literary product 
of this region in the political satire of Giuseppe Giusti 
(1809-1850). His raillery, " which, though it seems 
to be jesting, is in reality tearful," as he himself said, 
had a remarkable effect in developing a love of liberty, 
virtue and patriotism among his fellow-citizens. 

i\ll Italian literature of this period was made a 
vehicle for politics : reference has already been made 
in this connection to those two patriotic poets of 
Southern Ital\-, Gabriele Rossetti (1783-1854) and 
Alessandro Poerio (i 802-1 848), as well as to the 
gentle yet heroic young Genoese, Goffredo Mameli 
( 1 828-1 849), whose Canto Nazionale resounded on 
every battlefield during the wars of Italian inde- 
pendence. Among Venetian poets ma}' also here 
be mentioned : Francesco Dall'Ongaro (i 808-1 873), 
Aleardo Aleardi (18 12-1878) and, most illustrious of 
all, Giovanni Prati (181 5-1 884), with his highly-strung 
and impassioned artist-temperament. Poet and 
philosopher combined was Niccolo Tommaseo(i8o2- 
1874), but far superior to him in mental endowment 
was his friend, Antonio Rosmini (1797-185 5), who has 
left indelible traces on the history of philosoph)-. And 
side by side with Rosmini's name, must be recorded 



356 LITERATURE AND ART 

that of the other great philosopher of that epoch, 
Vincenzo Gioberti (1801-1852) whose work, as we 
have seen, had far-reaching political results. Terenzio 
Mamiani (1799-1885) sought to reconcile the theories 
of Rosmini and Gioberti, but he owes his reputation 
rather to the elegance of his style than to the force of 
his ideas. 

A great revival in historical research had also 
taken place : in Piedmont, the example set by 
Cesare Balbo (1789- 185 3) and Giuseppe Manno 
(1786- 1 867), was followed by Luigi Cibrario (1802- 
1870) and Ercole Ricotti (1816-1883). A native of 
Lombardy, Giuseppe Ferrari (181 1-1876), after making 
studies of the Italian revolutions, evolved a theory of 
the possibility of determining with exactness the re- 
currence of historical cycles, whilst his compatriot, 
Cesare Cantu (1804- 1895), devoted his indefatigable 
industry to a wider diffusion of historical knowledge. 
In Venetia, Emanuele Cicogna (1789-1868) and 
Eugenio Alberi (i 817-1878) carried on the traditions 
of those diligent and erudite critics who have always 
flourished in that province. A Neapolitan exile. 
General Pietro Colletta (1775-1831), had repaired to 
Tuscany to write his Storia Del Reame Di Napoli, and 
it was in this same province that the Marquis Gino 
Capponi (i 792-1 876) inaugurated, as far back as 1842, 
in company with Vieusseux, the AnJiivio Storico 
Italiano, whilst Atto Vannucci (18 10-1883) devoted 
his distinguished powers to the Storia DelPItalia 
Antica. At Rome, every branch of learning had 
been neglected, nor had letters flourished to any 
great extent in the kingdom of Naples, but the 



MUSICAL CELEBRITIES : ROSSINI S OPERAS 357 

memories of the past encouraged the study of 
philosophy and the more erudite sciences, of which 
the two most ilkistrious champions were the his- 
torian, Carlo Troya (1784-1858), and the philosopher, 
Pasquale Galluppi (1770-1846). In Sicily, Michele 
Amari (i 806-1 889) began to acquire a reputation by 
his Storia Del Vespro. 

Southern Italy continued, however, to be more 
especially distinguished for its musical celebrities, 
among whom it reckoned Saverio Mercadante (1797- 
1870), the brothers Ricci, the lively composers of 
Crispino E La Coniare, Enrico Petrella oi Precauzioni 
fame, Giovanni Pacini (i 796-1 867) and lastly, most 
illustrious of all, Vincenzo Bellini (i 802-1 835), who 
died at the age of thirty-three, after having so deeply 
stirred the world by the wonderful strains of his 
Norma, Sonnambula and / Puritani.^ 

What a marvellous harvest did Italian music yield 
in the first half of the present century ! Even before 
Bellini's works had seen the light, had appeared the 
Barbiere Di Siviglia (1816), composed in thirteen days 
by that magician of opera, Gioachino Rossini, of Pesaro 
( 1 792-1 868). His wonderfully fertile genius was equal 
to that rapid production which resulted in works of 
such extraordinary intensity and fire ; from Otello to 
Semiramide and Giiglielmo 7"^// (1829), it is one con- 
tinual progress to the loftiest heights of art. But 
when he realised that his inspiration was exhausted, 
he wisely ceased to write and rested on his laurels.^ 

' Bellini died at Puteaux, but his remains were removed to Catania 
in 1876. 

'^ Rossini died at Passy in 1868, hut his body was taken to the 
Church of Santa Croce at Florence, in 1S87. 



3S8 LITERATURE AND ART 

Whilst Bellini rejoiced the hearts of Sicilians, 
and Central Italy was revelling in the strains of 
Rossini, another composer of the first rank appeared 
in Upper Italy, in the person of Gaetano Donizetti 
( 1 798-1 848) who, with his Lucia Di Laniniermoor, 
Poliuto and Favorita, helped to ensure for his 
country absolute pre-eminence in the sphere of 
musical composition. 

It would be difficult to find in the history of any 
other people, a period so replete with great men as 
Italy offered in the first half of the nineteenth 
century ; it seemed, indeed, as if by her intelligent 
and unwearying activity, she would show herself 
worthy to rank again among the great nations of 
Europe. Only in sculpture and painting could she 
fail to boast of any genius fit to be named by the side 
of Canova. As was natural, in the arts likewise, 
classicism had been displaced by romanticism which 
may be said to have found special expression in the 
sculpture of Lorenzo Bartolini (1776-1850) and the 
paintings of Francesco Hayez (1791-1881) the two 
most eminent artists of this period ; with them must 
be mentioned another Italian sculptor, Carlo Maro- 
chetti ( 1 805-1 868) who, however, resided mostly in 
France or England, in which countries he acquired 
both wealth and renown. 

* 
* * 

The events of 1848-49 close the glorious epoch of 
preparation for Italian unity, but it was still the same 
generation which, in the vicissitudes of 1859-60, had 



GIOSUE CARDUCCI AS POET AND PROSE- WRITER 359 

accomplished the task of making Italy. After the 
proclamation, however, of the Italian kingdom in 1861, 
a new development was manifested in literature as in 
art : the great champions of the romantic school 
still held the stage, though already challenged by 
modern tendencies ; as the romanticists, in their youth, 
had deserted the Greek and Roman heroes of the 
classic age, so the new generation abandoned, in its 
own turn, the mediaeval subjects dear to its fathers, 
to find its motifs in every-day life. 

When Giosue Carducci, little more than twenty 
years old, began to make himself known in Tuscany, 
he declared himself anti-romantic, anti-Manzonian and 
anti-Christian. ^ Armed with pagan and classic 
culture, he seemed at first to enter the arena as a 
restorer of classicism and to continue the traditions of 
Foscolo and Alfieri, but he was not long in asserting 
his individuality by clothing absolutely modern 
thought in classic garb, as in his Inno A Satana 
which is an enthusiastic apostrophe to liberty and 
progress. By this hymn, published in 1865, he gained 
a certain popularity, but many years were to elapse, 
and numerous volumes of his verse were to see the 
light, before his fame, as a poet of the first order, was 
to be fully established. Carducci is equally distin- 
guished as a writer of prose which, in his hands, is 
always forcible and elegant, whether it be in his 
speeches, or in those critical studies wherein he 
knows how to combine, with rare felicity, precision 

' Carducci was born in 1836 at \'aldica.stello (Pietrasanta) ; he is, at 
the present time, professor of Italian literature in the University of 
Bologna, as well as a senator in the j;(i\ernmenl. 



360 LITERATURE AND ART 

and minute research with lofty synthesis and im- 
passioned exposition. 

Criticism and history have been enormously 
developed during this period, by such able investi- 
gators as Ruggero Bonghi (i 828-1 895) who has 
brought vast culture and deep thought to bear on 
the many different subjects which have absorbed his 
wonderful energies, but the latter have been so widely 
dissipated that whilst he has very appreciably in- 
fluenced his own generation, he has not left any 
important work bearing his name, which can cause 
posterity to appraise him at his true value.^ 

Contemporaneous with Bonghi, and like him, a 
Neapolitan, is Pasquale Villari — the chief of living 
Italian historians. ^ He, it was, who introduced the 
positive method into Italy, and, even more than by his 
philosophical articles, has he succeeded in popularising 
history by the wonderful faculty that has enabled 
him to reconstruct, with such extraordinary clear- 
ness of insight, Florentine life in the times of Savona- 
rola and Machiavelli. Villari is no ordinary 
savant, but a thinker and artist of the first order, 
who, by his writings, knows how to make a bygone 
age live again for his readers. Nor does he limit his 
sympathetic researches to the life of the past alone ; 
he scrutinises present-day problems from a sociolo- 
gist's standpoint and has the noble courage to tell 
— if necessary — the unpleasant truth : witness his 

' Bonghi was also minister of Public Instruction from 1874 to 1876. 

^ Pasquale Villari, born in 1827, is at the present time a senator, and 
professor in the Royal Institute of Higher Studies at Florence ; he was 
also minister of Public Instruction in the years 1891-92. 



MASSARANI : BERSEZIO : HISTORIANS 36 1 

Lettere Meridionali and his articles on the risings 
in Sicily of a few years back. 

Another sane and forcible thinker is the senator, 
Tullo Massarani (born in 1826), who, in his recent 
work. Come La Pensava II Dottor Lorenzi, has opened 
up a mine of noble thoughts and ideas which reveal 
the many-sided soul of the author as at once artist, 
poet, philanthropist, scientist and patriot. Having 
taken an active part in the national movement in Lom- 
bardy, he describes the same with colour and warmth, 
in his works on Carlo Tenca and Cesare Correnti, both 
of whom had been his friends and colleagues in 
journalism. 

By the side of Massarani, among the men who 
have most contributed to give a direction, at once 
useful and sound, to the nation's culture, may be 
mentioned the illustrious name of Vittorio Bersezio 
(born in 1830), who, besides being one of the most 
eminent publicists of Italy, has acquired consider- 
able fame as a writer of comedies, by his Miserie 
Del Signor Travetti and La Bolla Di Sapone ; as a 
romancist, by Gli Angeli Delia Terra, La Plebe, &c., 
and, during these latter years, as an historian, by his 
great and valuable work, in eight volumes, // Regno 
Di Vittorio Emanuele. 

To the historians quoted above, who, in a great 
measure, continued to produce new works after the 
middle of the century, we shall here add the names 
of the Benedictine abate, \^\i\'g\. Tosti (1811-1897); 
Alberto Guglielmotti (181 2-1 893), a Dominican 
monk, noted for his works on the Italian navy ; the 
two patriots, Luigi Carlo Farini (1812-1866) and 



362 LITERATURE AND ART 

Giuseppe La Farina (181 5-1 863), who dealt with 
contemporary history ; Giuseppe De Leva (1821- 
1895), who devoted his researches to the times of 
Charles v.; Giuseppe Massari (1821-1884); Nicomede 
Bianchi (18 18-1 886) ; Ferdinand© Ranalli (1813- 
i894)and Giuseppe Guerzoni (183 5- 1886). Amongst 
living writers may also be mentioned Cardinal Alfonso 
Capecelatro, Archbishop of Capua (born in 1824); the 
senator, Domenico Carutti (born in 1821) ; Francesco 
Bertolini, professor at the University of Bologna 
(born in 1836); the senator, Luigi Chiala (born in 
1834), who has collected Cavour's letters and pub- 
lished besides important works on the history of 
the Italian Risorgimcnio, and the senator, Giovanni 
Faldella (born in 1846), a fanciful and original writer 
who, besides a series of pleasant yet light contributions 
to literature, has written the history of 'young Ital\'.' 
The senator, Rom ualdo Bonfadini (1831-1899), and 
the deputy, Pompeo Molmenti (born in 1852), have 
respectively applied their studies to the vicissitudes of 
Milan and Venice, whilst the professors, Augusto 
Franchetti, Raffaello Giovagnoli, Giuseppe De Blasiis, 
Pio Carlo Falletti, Carlo Cipolla, xA.medeo Crivellucci, 
Oreste Tommasini all merit notice, as do Colonel 
Cecilio Fabris, Costanzo Rinaudo — editor of the 
Rivista Storica Italiana — Ferdinand Gabotto, xAntonio 
Manno, Francesco Nitti, and Giacomo Gorrini, — to 
say nothing of the hosts of scholars who devote all 
their energies to documentary research and the 
sifting of facts in order to prepare sound material for 
history. 

Diligent and accurate rcscarcli has been carried 




LUIGI CARLO FARINl. 



364 LITERATURE AND ART 

back to the most remote periods. Italy is naturally 
the country, par excellence^ of archaeology, and of late 
years, this science has found most distinguished expo- 
nents in such men as Giovan Battista De Rossi 
(1822-1894), Ariodante Fabretti (1816-1894) and 
Giuseppe Fiorelli (i 823-1 896) and worthy living 
representatives in the senator Domenico Comparetti, 
and Ettore Pais, professor at the University of Pisa ; 
in Luigi Pigorini Ettore De Ruggero, and Rodolfo 
Lanciani — all professors at Rome — as well as in 
Edoardo Brizio, professor at Bologna, Giulio De 
Petra, professor at Naples, and Felice Barnabei. 

In all parts of Italy, historical societies have been 
formed, and have promoted the collection of docu- 
ments and publication of reviews. To classify and 
regulate this branch of study, there was founded 
at Rome in 1883, the Italian Historical Institute 
whose first president was Cesare Correnti (1815- 
1888), an eminent patriot and elegant writer on 
various subjects, with a special aptitude for history. 
He was succeeded in his post by an author noted for 
his literary and critical essays — the senator, Marco 
Tabarrini (1818-1898).^ Correnti and Tabarrini were 
rather polygraphers than genuine historians ; with 
them, can be reckoned Domenico Berti (i 820-1 897), 
at once philosopher, historian and politician ; Aristide 
Gabelli (i 830-1 891), who concentrated his attention 
on popular educational problems ; Francesco Paolo 
Perez (1815-1892), Emilio Broglio (1814-1892), and 
among living writers, the senator, Gaetano Negri 

' Tabarrini was', in his turn, replaced by Professor Pasquale Villari 
of whom mention has already been made. 



ITALIAN JOURNALISM: BOTTERO : DIN A 365 

(born in 1838), who has published valuable critical, 
historical and political articles. 

In this rapid review of the intellectual movement 
in Italy, it is only just to include journalism which 
has often been an important factor in determining the 
drift of public opinion towards nationalist ideas. 
Among the journalists of the Risorgiineiito period, 
may be recalled the name of Antonio Gallenga who 
was correspondent for the Times, and afterwards 
settled in England where he died in 1895 ; as well 
as those of Felice Govean, Carlo Pisani, Paolo 
Fambri, Pier Carlo Boggio, Celestino Bianchi, Leone 
Fortis, Filippo Filippi and Desiderato Chiaves. 
In the period preceding 1870, three journalists 
represented, in a special manner, the conflict of 
parties ; these were, Giovanni Battista Bottero — 
editor of the Gazzetta Del Popolo — a pronounced 
anti-clerical and a stout champion of the glorious 
principles which bound Victor Emmanuel, Cavour 
and Garibaldi together in decisive action, to promote 
Italian unity ; Giacomo Dina — editor of the Opinione 
— an able expositor of the tenets of the party of 
the ' Right' who held the government after the death 
of Cavour — and Don Margotti — the editor of the 
Unita Cattolica — who, in defence of the papacy, has 
hotly contested all the ground won by the liberals 
from the most absolutely intransigent standpoint. 
Doctor Bottero and Don Margotti both possessed 
special polemical gifts, and the paper-war which these 
writers knew so well how to wage, without descending 
to personalities, was, for a long time, highly appre- 
ciated by their readers. 



366 LITERATURE AND ART 

Journalism is now being more or less modelled on 
English and American lines, as regards telegraphic 
intelligence, and it is noteworthy that this costly plan 
has been adopted by Italian newspapers, in spite of 
what is too often a scant pecuniary endowment, an 
extremely low price — not exceeding five centesinii — 
and a circulation which, owing to the very configuration 
of the country, must needs be limited to their own 
respective provinces. Many literary men devote a 
great part of their gifts and leisure to journalistic 
work ; only a few — not mentioned elsewhere — 
need be recorded here ; they include Giulio Piccini, 
Domenico Oliva, Arturo Colautti, Edoardo Scarfoglio, 
Salvatore Di Giacomo, Eugenio Checchi, Luigi 
Arnaldo Vassallo, Delfino Orsi and Raffaello 
Barbiera. 

At a period so crowded with events as that of the 
unification of Italy, it can be easily understood how 
many of the men who shared therein would be 
tempted to write their memoirs. Many of the 
autobiographical records belonging to the epoch of 
liberation — among which may be mentioned the 
Autobiografia of General Morozzo Delia Rocca, a 
book that has been translated into English — possess 
not only great historical importance, but much literary 
value as well, like Massimo D'Azeglio's Ricordi, and 
Ricordanse Delia Mia Vita (181 3-1876) by Luigi 
Settembrini who was also a critic of some authority. 
Among similar works by living authors, that entitled 
Noterelle Di Uno Dei Millc, by Giulio Cesare Abba 
(born in 1838), deserves mention. 

The writer who has achieved most in the depart- 



DE SANCTIS: BARTOLI: EMIXRNT SCHOLARS 367 

ment of criticism was Francesco De Sanctis (1818- 
1888) who, through his profound knowledge and clear 
insight, knew how to analyse the moral atmosphere of 
an age as well as how to appraise the true aesthetic 
value of a work, by piercing to the inmost core of the 
writer's meaning. He was the great champion of the 
old critical school, as opposed to the new school of 
erudition which had one of its first and most eminent 
representatives in Adolfo Bartoli (183 5-1 894), whose 
Storia Delia Letteratiira Italiana, in eight volumes, 
reviewed the history of Italian literature from its 
earliest beginnings to tlie time of Petrarca. 

Indeed, Italy can boast of such eminent scholars in 
the ranks of criticism, as Alessandro D'Ancona (born 
in 1835), professor at the University of Pisa ; Bona- 
ventura Zumbini (born in 1840) and Francesco 
D'Ovidio (born in 1 849) — both professors in the 
University of Naples ; Isidore Del Lungo (born in 
1841), academician of the Crusca ; Pio Rajna (born 
in 1847), professor in the Royal Institute of Higher 
Studies at Florence ; Ernesto Monaci (born in 1 844), 
and Angelo De Gubernatis (born in 1840) — both 
professors in the University of Rome ; as well as 
Francesco Torraca, Rodolfo Renier, Michele 
Scherillo, Francesco Flamini, Tommaso Casini, 
Francesco Novati, Vincenzo Crescini, G. A. Cesareo, 
and many others. Many of the most distinguished 
among them try to unite the two schools by combin- 
ing a detailed and conscientious grasp of facts with 
capacity for research and psychological analysis. In 
this connection, for instance, may be recalled the name 
of Arturo Graf (born in 1848), professor in the 



368 LITERATURE AND ART 

University of Turin, who is, however, not only a 
savant and critic, but a poet of remarkable dis- 
tinction. 

It would seem that in these days erudition and 
poetry go hand in hand, and a striking proof thereof is 
furnished by Carducci. Here may be recorded, too, 
the names of Giuseppe Chiarini (born in 1833); 
Olindo Guerrini (born in 1845) — well known by his 
nom-de-phiinc of ' Lorenzo Stecchetti ' — Giovanni 
Marradi (born in 1852), Guido Mazzoni (born in 
1859), Giovanni Pascoli and Severino Ferrari — poets 
who mostly represent Carducci's school of thought. 
The great Sicilian poet, Mario Rapisardi (born in 
1844) is, personally, strongly opposed to Carducci, and 
is the author of two very highly-rated poems, L?icifero 
and Giobbe, besides being well known as an elegant 
translator of the Latin poets and of the English poet, 
Shelley, 

Among the singers of this later epoch, two must 
be mentioned who, richly endowed with poetical 
gifts, both died in the flower of their age — Emilio 
Praga and Iginio Ugo Tarchetti. Of living poets, 
Enrico Panzacchi (born in 1841), who can be 
both forcible and melodious ; Domenico Gnoli (born 
in 1836), editor of the Rivista IJ Italia; Giuseppe 
Aurelio Costanzo (born in 1843), i\lfredo Baccelli 
(born in 1863) and the very youthful Giovanni Cena — 
who has only come to the front within the last two 
years — all deserve mention. 

Among poetesses, the eminent improvisatrice, 
Giannina Milli, enjoyed a high reputation ; Alinda 
Bonacci-l^runamonti (born in 1842) continues to 



DE AMICIS : FOGAZZARO 369 

produce good verse, and, in the younger generation of 
writers, Ada Negri (born in 1870) has attained a rapid 
celebrit}/ by her poetry, in which she gives expression 
to the new sociaHstic sentiments. 

* * 

Edmondo De Amicis, indubitably the most 
popular of living Italian authors of the last few 
years, has become a socialist by the very 
exuberance of his sentimentalism. He began to 
write, while still an officer in the army, his Bozzetti 
Delia Vita Militare which is redundantly sen- 
timental. Later, he left the service to give himself 
up entirely to literature ; made long tours to Spain, 
Morocco, Holland, London, Paris, Constantinople 
and South America, and from every one of these 
journeys, drew materials for works remarkable for 
their descriptive power. Cuore, one of his books for 
schools, had an immense and well-deserved success, 
for De Amicis knows how to touch the inmost 
feelings of the heart and how to awaken the live- 
liest emotions in his readers. His last productions, 
// Romanzo Di Un Maestro and La Carrozza Di 
Tutti, are characteristic of his new political leanings, 
show a tendency to social psychology, and are dis- 
tinguished by an exalted morality. 

Eminently moral also in tone are the writings of 
another well-known Italian genius, the poet and 
romancist, Antonio Fogazzaro (born in 1842) ; the 
three novels, Maloiiibra, Daniele Cortis and Piccolo 
Mondo Antico are tlie chief signboards which mark 
the artistic career (jf tliis meritorious writer whose 

2" 



370 LITERATURE AND ART 

work is always distinguished by the loftiest 
spirituality. De Amicis and Fogazzaro are both 
disciples of Manzoni. 

Giovanni Verga (born in 1840) models his work 
on the naturalistic methods that Zola has brought 
into vogue ; amongst his novels, / Malavoglia and 
Mastro Do)i Gesualdo are remarkable for their 
scrupulous nicety of observation. It was Verga's 
Novelk Rusticane that furnished the composer 
Mascagni with an argument for his celebrated opera 
of Cavalleria Rusticana. Another realistic writer 
of fiction is Luigi Capuana (born in 1839), author of 
Giacifita — the first work of its kind produced in Italy. 
Capuana, however, has published important critical 
essays, as well as excellent popular tales for children, 
like C Era Una Volta, II Regno Delle Fate, &c. To 
the same school of realism, belongs the distinguished 
authoress, Matilde Serao (born in 1856), who married 
the journalist, Edoardo Scarfoglio ; besides innumer- 
able articles in the periodicals, she has published 
several novels which have won for her a foremost 
place among Italian women writers.^ 

Quite another direction has been taken by Salvatore 
Farina (born in 1846), Anton Giulio Barrili (born in 
1836) and Enrico Castelnuovo (born in 1839) — 
romancists and novelists who model their works 
upon English exemplars and cater for wholesome 
family reading. With them may be bracketed Gero- 

' Among the latter may be included Beatrice Speraz, who obtained 
celebrity under the pseudonym of Bniiio Speraiii ; Anna Radius 
Zuccari (Neera) ; Virginia Treves [Cordelia) ; Maria Torriani [Marchesa 
Colonihi), &c. . whilst Ida Baccini, the Tuscan uutlioress, writes books 
more especially for young people. 



D'ANXUNZIO : GIACOMETTI 37 1 

lamo Rovetta (born in 1850), who has also attempted 
the drama with success. 

But the ItaHan romancist who has provolced the 
most heated discussion during the last few years, is 
Gabriele D'Annunzio (born in 1862) who, if he has 
been lauded to the skies, on the one hand, has, on the 
other, been subjected to the most scathing criticisms. 
Endowed with a powerful imagination as well as 
with a marvellous poetic instinct, and possessed of a 
mastery of all the harmonies of the Italian language, 
he often adopts, nevertheless, a certain preciosity 
of style and expression that recalls that of the 
writers of the sixteenth century. He has developed 
that type of psychological romance in Italy, of which 
Bourget is the French exponent, and," for the most 
part, describes that class of society, unhealthy in its 
tendencies, covetous of enjoyment and refined in 
its tastes, which is vulgarly known as ' high life.' 
D'Annunzio infuses, besides, an intense egoism — 
amounting to an almost brutal cult of the ' ego '■ — ■ 
into his work ; indeed, he poses in Italy, as a de 
fender of Nietzsche's strange ' Beyond-Man ' theory 
Lately, D'Annunzio has attempted the drama from 
the standpoint of a declared innovator, but, so far, 
with scant success. 

The Italian stage has, during the present century, 
boasted of a powerful and fertile genius in Paolo 
Giacometti (i 817-1882) who, constrained to live the 
vagabond life of a travelling theatrical company as 
a writer ot comedies, constantly under the necessity 
of supplying a certain number of plays in the year 
often exhausted his happy vein by excessi\e and 



372 LITERATURE AND ART 

hasty production. Some of his comedies still hold 
the stage, as La Colpa Vcndica La Colpa and La 
Morte Civile which have afforded such great artists 
as Gustavo Modena, Tommaso Salvini and Ernesto 
Rossi, with scope for their dramatic powers. 

Since we are touching on the subject of actors, it 
behoves us to mention as well, one at least of the 
most celebrated actresses of the century, who is still 
living — Adelaide Ristori, Marchioness Capranica Del 
Grillo (born in 1816). Italy has alwaj-s been rich in 
actors of the first rank and among those who at 
present excite general admiration, must be named 
Eleonora Duse, Ermete Novelli, Ermete Zacconi 
and Claudio Leigheb. 

After Giacometti, Paolo Eerrari (i 822-1 889) for 
many years held a foremost place among Italian 
dramatists ; he is more especially remembered by 
some historical comedies : Goldoni E Le Sue Sedici 
Cojiunedic, La Satira E Pa7'i)ii, &c. The historical 
drama was very successfully cultivated by Pietro 
Cossa (1834- 1 881), who died just when his worth 
was becoming appreciated. Felice Cavallotti (1842- 
1898) — whose activities were, however, in a great 
measure absorbed by politics — wrote dramas and 
comedies which were highly applauded. Valentino 
Carrera (i 830-1 895) sought to revive the genial 
popular comedy of Goldoni, but Giacinto Galiina 
( 1 852-1 897) has most successfully dramatised con- 
temporary life, in spite of nearly all his productions 
being in the Venetian dialect. 

Amongst living playwrights must be mentioned 
Giuseppe Giacosa (born in 1847), an elegant author 



I.IVINC, PLAYWRIGHTS : TUSCAN HUMORISTS 373 

and exquisite artist in verse, who, after the production 
of his romantic idylls oS. \ki^ Partita A Scacc/iz and the 
Trionfo IT Amove, succeeded by degrees in attaining 
distinction as a writer of brilliant comedy and 
historical drama — both characterised by psychological 
analysis of the most modern type. Achille TorelH 
(born in 1844) gave a promise which has hardly 
been realised ; at the present time, Roberto Bracco 
(born in 1861), Marco Praga (born in 1863), and the 
brothers Camillo and Giannino Antona Traversi 
have distinguished themselves among the younger 
comic playwrights. Baron Francesco De Renzis 
(born in 1836) has also written short pieces for 
the stage, but he has now embarked upon a 
diplomatic career and is, at the present time, am- 
bassador to the Court of St. James's. Another 
dramatic writer — more especially famous however 
for his brilliant critiques — is Ferdinando Martini 
(born in 1 841), who has devoted himself to political 
life and is now governor of Erythrea. 

The names of two eminent Tuscan humorists, 
both lately dead, ought here to be remembered — Carlo 
Lorenzini who, under the novi de plume of Collodi^ 
produced a series of exquisite books for children, and 
Pier Francesco P^rrigni who, by his penetration and 
(M-iginality, has made his pseudonym of F^r/r/.' widely 
known throughout Italy. Tuscan wit also colours 
the dialect verses of Renato P\icini (born in 1843). 
Enrico Nencioni (i 840-1 896), who wrote highly- 
esteemed articles on contemporary foreign literature, 
and more particularly on English poets, was also a 
native of Tuscany. 



374 LITERATURE AND ART 

Among the authors connected with art-criticism, 
special mention is due to the senator, Giovanni 
MorelH (1816-1891), and to Giovan Battista Caval- 
caselle (i 827-1 897), who, in collaboration with the 
Englishman Crowe, has produced a valuable history 
of painting, as well as to the living writers, Camillo 
Roito, Adolfo Venturi, Giulio Cantalamessa, Corrado 
Ricci, Vittorio Pica, Dino Mantovani, Ugo Oietti, &c. 



The revulsion which had taken place in literature 
was also verified in painting and sculpture. For some 
time, the romantic school had asserted itself without 
opposition, but the desire of approximating closer to 
the truth of nature led the more powerful artists to 
abandon the familiar tracks they had hitherto fol- 
lowed. The first departure in this line was made by 
the brothers Domenicoand Girolamo Induno who, by 
introducing ^^;?;'^ painting, brought art into harmony 
with contemporary life. Whilst they were originating 
this new impulse in Milan, Filippo Palizzi of Naples 
(born in 1818), by devoting himself entirely to the 
truthful delineation of animal-life, succeeded in 
leading many artists to follow in his wake.^ In the 
meantime, Tuscany, a province that had already- 
furnished romanticism with its chief ornament in 
Bartolini, produced the leader of a new school in 
Giovanni Dupre (18 17-1882) who, in later life, joined 
the ranks of literature b)- publishing his Ricordi 
Aiitobiografici. The Swiss canton of Ticino can 
boast of being the birthplace of the greatest Italian 

' Filippo Palizzi died on the nth of September, 1899. 



VELA: MORELLI: MONTEVERDE 375 

sculptor of the century : Vincenzo Vela (i 822-1 891) 
came, as a youth, from his native place Ligornetto, 
to Milan and afterwards settled at Turin. This 
artist exercised an enormous influence over Italian 
sculpture of the last half-century and gave it a 
thoroughly realistic development ; his two chef 
d'oeuvres are his Spartaco and Napoleone Morente. 

But suddenly there came to the front two great 
innovators in the persons of Domenico Morelli, 
the painter, and Giulio Monteverde, the sculptor, 
whose names, to-day, adorn the Italian Senate. 
Domenico Morelli (born at Naples in 1826) was 
a rebel against academic art which had flourished 
more unhindered in the Neapolitan States than else- 
where, owing to the fact that those provinces, under 
the Bourbons, had remained aloof, as it were, from 
the current of European life and thought. Palizzi 
had given the first blow to the old school, but Morelli 
was a much bolder and more trenchant reformer. Pas- 
quale Villari, in a valuable study, Za Pittura Moderna 
In Italia Ed In Francia, has well estimated the impetus 
given to art by Morelli : " Light is for him the one 
absorbing question ; he regards every new picture as 
a problem of chiaroscuro, and the encomiums and 
criticisms passed on his work all hinge on this point. 
He insures, before everything, unity, strength and 
harmony in his picture's general scheme of colour. 
When a subject presents itself, he cannot make it 
his own till he has resolved it into an effect of light 
and shade." Giulio Monteverde (born at Bistagno in 
Piedmont in 1837) began to acquire a reputation by 
his Giovinezza Di Cristoforo Colombo^ confirmed it by 



37^ LITERATURE AND ART 

his Genio Di Franklin, and finally, by his Jenner Che 
Prova LInnesto Del Vajuolo Sul Figlio, achieved the 
utmost possibilities of realistic sculpture. 

In 1 86 1, national exhibitions were started in Italy 
and served much to develop artistic impulses, as 
well as to determine the reciprocal influences of 
prevailing characteristics in the various provincial 
schools. Indeed this movement served, as years went 
on, to promote a general enthusiasm for the fine arts, 
and throughout the peninsula distinguished artists 
began to arise. Naturally, local idiosyncrasies 
gradually disappeared, and in almost every province 
can we now find evidence of the different tendencies 
that sway the European art of to-day. 

Considering what diverse currents are at work 
simultaneously in our modern life, it is not here 
proposed to classify the various schools, but simply 
to record the names of the most eminent artists who 
adorn, and have adorned, the various districts of 
Italy during the latter half of the nineteenth century. 
In Piedmont, for instance, the traditions of landscape- 
painting have been worthily carried on by Antonio 
Fontanesi, Angelo Beccaria, Carlo Pittara and 
Demetrio Cosola, and, among other distinguished 
living artists, they are represented by Bartolomeo 
Giuliano (born in 1825), Lorenzo Delleani (born 
in 1840), Marco Calderini (born in 1850), Carlo 
Follini, Clemente Pugliese-Levi and Andrea Taver- 
nier. Although a native of Busseto (Parma), the 
great Oriental artist, Alberto Pasini (born in i82'6), 
lives in Piedmont. Among ^'^^v^/r-painters, Giovan 
Battista Quadrone (i 844-1 898) won a high repu- 



SCULPTORS: PAINTERS 2)77 

tation, as likewise has done Giacomo Grosso (born 
in i860), for his wonderful skill and productiveness 
as a figure-painter. Vittorio Cavalleri, Carlo Stratta, 
Gilardi, and Turletti must likewise be mentioned 
among others. In sculpture, to the name of Odoardo 
Tabacchi, we may add those of Luigi Belli and 
Davide Calandra, but worthy of special distinction 
is Leonardo Ristolfi (born in 1859) — a most powerful 
artist as well as a pronounced idealist. 

The league between Piedmont and Lombardy is 
well typified by Eleuterio Pagliano who, born in 
Piedmont in 1826, has lived for some time past in 
Milan ; his service under Garibaldi inspired him to 
devote himself almost exclusively to portraying 
battle scenes : another eminent artist, Sebastiano 
De Albertis (i 828-1897), also devoted his talents to 
military subjects. Quite a numerous crowd of 
admirable disciples have been trained in the school 
of Giuseppe Bertini (i 820-1 898) — a painter justly 
esteemed for the beauty of his design and the 
artistic finish of his work. Tranquillo Cremona 
was a worker of a robust and innovating turn of 
mind, but he died at the age of forty-one, in 1878, 
ere his powers were fully matured. Uberto Dell'- 
Orto ( 1 848-1 897), and Francesco Filippini (1853- 
1895) also followed the new school which acknow- 
ledges as its leaders Mose Bianchi, and Filippo 
Carcano whose name is associated with pictures of 
limitless and nebulous horizons. With these well- 
known champions may be bracketed Eugenio 
Gignous, Pietro Michis, Emilio Gola, Arnaldo 
Ferraguti, Pompeo Mariani, Giorgio Belloni, 



3/8 LITERATURE AND ART 

Giuseppe Mentessi, Leonardo Bazzaro and other 
excellent colourists. Giovanni Segantini (born at 
Arco in 1858), died in September, 1899) a most 
powerful exponent of the modern impressionist 
school, occupies a niche by himself Amongst Lom- 
bard sculptors of the later period were Magni, 
Bergonzoli, Barzaghi, and Grandi, whilst in the 
ranks of those still living are Ernesto Bazzaro^ 
Enrico Butti, Paolo Troubetzkoy, Antonio Carminati, 
and Emilio Quadrelli. 

Venice, as well, when she had shaken off the 
Austrian yoke and awakened from her long lethargy, 
contributed her share to the revival of art. Pre- 
eminent in this renaissance, was Giacomo Favretto 
(i 849-1 887) whose productions entitle him to rank as 
the founder of the new Venetian school of painting 
which at the present time embraces quite a crowd of 
bold, vigorous and well-known followers, including 
Bartolomeo Bezzi, Guglielmo Ciardi, Pietro Fra- 
giacomo, Alessandro Milesi, Cesare Laurenti, Silvio 
Rotta, Luigi Nono, Ettore Tito, Alessandro Zezzos, 
Angelo DairOca Bianca, Vincenzo De Stefani, Egisto 
Lancerotto, Eugenio De Blaas, Ferruzzi, Zanetti- 
Miti, Bressanin, and Vizzotto Alberti. Among 
Venetian sculptors, Antonio Dal Zotto, Carlo Loren- 
zetti, Emilio Marsili and Urbano Nono deserve 
honourable mention. Indeed, Venice has become 
one of the greatest artistic centres of Italy, espe- 
cially since 1895, when, through the generous and 
noble initiative of the municipality, at the suggestion 
of Riccardo Selvatico, the mayor, was inaugurated 
the first Exhibition of Fine Arts, which, arranged 



ARTISTS OF L/GURIA, EMILIA AND TUSCANY 2)79 

by a system of invitations, and marked by a 
special cachet of distinction, was an unqualified 
success. The experiment was repeated in 1897 
and has now been regularly established as a 
biennial affair. The chief secretary of the com- 
mittee. Professor Antonio Fradeletto, so well known 
as an eloquent orator, has devoted all his great 
intellectual activity, as well as his tireless practical 
energy, to the organisation of these exhibitions. 

Liguria has produced a painter of the highest 
merit — conspicuous for his religious and patriotic 
feeling — in Niccolo Barabino (1831-1891) who, during 
forty years of continuous effort, lavished genuine 
treasures of art on Italy. 

Among the artists of Emilia must be mentioned : 
Adeodato Malatesta (1806-1891), Giovanni Muzzioli 
(1854-1894): among those still living — Gaetano 
Chierici and Raffaele Faccioli, painters, and Diego 
Sarti, Enrico Barberi and Giuseppe Romagnoli, 
sculptors. 

The Tuscan school boasts such illustrious names 
in painting as those of Stefano Ussi (born in 1822), 
Giovanni Fattori (born in 1828), Michele Gordigiani 
(born in 1830), Telemaco Signorini (born in 1835), 
the brothers Francesco and Luigi Gioli, Adolfo 
and Angelo Tommasi, Stefano Bruzzi, Arturo Faldi, 
Francesco Vinea, Odoardo Gelli, Arturo Moradei, 
Vittorio Corcos and Tito Lessi ; in sculpture, it 
can claim Augusto Rivalta, Emilio Gallon, Emilio 
Zocchi, and others. One of the most illustrious and 
meritorious of Tuscan artists is Cesare Maccari, born 
at Siena in 1840, but now settled at Rome where he 



380 LITERATURE AND ART 

has embellished the palace of the Senate by his 
wonderful frescoes. 

Roman art has received a new impetus from the 
Neapolitan painter, Bernardo Celentano who died at 
the age of twenty-eight, in 1 863 ; with his name may 
be recalled that of the Roman artist, Cesare Fracassini 
who also died very young (i 839-1 868). Francesco 
Podesti of Rome (i 800-1 895) was a fresco-painter 
by profession, but a follower of the classical 
school. Among the Roman artists of to-day, 
Scipione Vannutelli, Francesco Jacovacci, Cesare Biseo, 
Enrico Coleman, Antonio Mancini, xA.ugusto Corelli 
and Aristide Sartorio — a young man of high culture, 
who has continued the traditions of English Pre- 
Rafaelitism) — have acquired a reputation. Among 
sculptors, mention of the lamented Ercole Rosa 
( 1 846-1 893), Roberto Bompiani, Eugenio Maccagnani 
and Ettore Ferrari ought not to be omitted. 

The Neapolitan provinces, after Morelli and Palizzi, 
have produced a fine succession of powerful painters, 
including Francesco Saverio Altamura (i 826-1 897), 
Achille Vertunni (1826- 1897), Giuseppe De Nittis 
( 1 841-1884), Francesco Netti (i 832-1 894), and to-day, 
they may justly boast of Francesco Paolo Michetti 
(born in 185 1) — an artist who knows how to invest his 
themes with the utmost vigour and intensity. Among 
other southern painters, are Edoardo Dalbono, 
Federico Cortese, Camillo Miola, Giovacchino Toma, 
Alceste Campiani, Vincenzo Caprile, Rubens Santoro, 
Salvatore Postiglione, Gaetano Esposito and Vincenzo 
IrolH, whilst the sculptors include the brothers 
Francesco and Vincenzo Jerace, Alfonso Balzico, 



SICILIAN artists: MUSIC: VERDI 38 1 

Achille D'Orsi, Vincenzo Gemito and Filippo 
Cifariello. 

One of the most illustrious Sicilian painters is 
Giuseppe Sciuti (born in 1836), who lives, however, 
in Rome ; there, too, dwell the eminent sculptors, 
Salvatore Grita and Ettore Ximenes — both natives 
of Sicily. Another excellent rising Sicilian sculptor, 
although still young, is Domenico Trentacoste who 
resides at Florence. The artists who live in Sicily 
include the painters Francesco Lojacono and Salva- 
tore Marchesi, and the sculptors, Benedetto Civiletti, 
Mario Rutelli and Vincenzo Ragusa. 

From this long catalogue of names, many of which 
are already well known even out of Italy, and from 
the various idiosyncrasies characterising lately ex- 
hibited works, it is only fair to conclude that Italian 
activities in the field of art — as elsewhere — are many 
and great, and that the same ideas, tendencies 
and influences which are abroad throughout Europe, 
are also making themselves felt in the peninsula. 

* 
* * 

But Italy's crowning glory is her music. The fame 
of Giuseppe Verdi who, born in 181 3 at Busseto 
(Parma), first electrified the pubHc in 1842 by 
his Nabucco, has been consistently maintained during 
the past half-century. This veteran composer, who 
may be said to have struck, in his music, every chord 
of human emotion, has scored a marvellous series 
of successes in his Ernani (1844), Rigoletto (1851), 
Trovatore (1853;, Traviata (1853), Aida (1871) and 



382 LITERATURE AND ART 

C^/t'Z/c' (1887), and still stands unequalled among his 
contemporaries. 

Of all the works produced by other Italian 
musicians throughout this period, two only seem likely 
to endure : the Gioconda of Amilcare Ponchielli 
(1834- 1 886), and the Mcfistofcle of Arrigo Boito(born 
in 1842). In recent years, however, has appeared a 
host of young composers who promise to continue the 
noble traditions of the past : the works of Giacomo 
Puccini (born in 1858), Pietro Mascagni (born in 
1863), Ruggero Leoncavallo (born in 1853), Alberto 
Franchetti (born in i860) and Umberto Giordano 
(born in 1870) have already met with appreciation 
beyond the confines of Italy. Moreover, sacred 
music has likewise found a worthy exponent in the 
young priest, Lorenzo Perosi (born in 1872). 

Not only in the sphere of art and letters, but in 
that of science also, does the Italy of to-day 
reckon distinguished students who worthily uphold 
her ancient fame. In this connection, it will suffice 
merely to recall the philologist, Graziadio Ascoli 
(born in 1829) ; the philosopher, Roberto Ardigo 
(born in 1828) ; the political economists, Francesco 
Ferrara (born in 18 10) and Gerolamo Boccardo (born 
in 1829); the well-known criminologist, Cesare 
Lombroso (born in 1836); the physiologist, Angelo 
Mosso (born in 1846); the chemist, Stanislas 
Cannizzaro (born in 1820); the mathematicians, Luigi 
Cremona (born in 1830) and Eugenio Beltrami (born 
in 1835); the electrician, Galileo Ferraris (1847- 
1897), and the r.stronomer, Giovanni Schiaparelli 
(born in 1835). With these ought to be remembered 



PULPIT ORATORY : REVIEWS: ITALY AT WORK 383 

the names of tliose who have so largely helped to 
popularise science. Among such, in the past, can be 
reckoned Michele Lessona (i 823-1 S94; and Antonio 
Stoppani (i 824-1 891), and, in the present day, Paolo 
Mantegazza (born in 1831), and Paolo Lio}' (born in 
1836). 

Pulpit oratory has found an eloquent representative, 
during late years, in Padre Agostino Da Montefeltro 
— whose real name is Luigi Vicini (born 1839); his 
sermons strike a distinctly modern note and are 
accentuated in delivery by the fervour of the preacher. 

The numerous reviews now published for Italian 
readers tend much to diffuse culture ; of these, the 
Nuova Antologia, founded in Florence in 1865, then 
transferred to Rome, and at present edited by the 
deputy, Maggiorino Ferraris, takes the lead. 

At last, Italy is at work, and rich indeed is the fruit 
of her labours. It may, perhaps, be admitted that 
during the last few years, she has been more remark- 
able for the development of individual activities than 
for noteworthy political achievements. Nevertheless, 
when we consider the changes that have taken place 
within her borders during the nineteenth century, and 
reflect on the length and difficulty of the road that 
has been hers in order to attain a place by the side 
of the countries in the first ranks of progress, we 
must allow how glorious, in every phase, is her record. 
Compared with the results obtained at the price of so 
many sacrifices and with the goal reached by so 
many efforts and so much heroism, the discourage- 
ments and vexations which, from time to time, have 
harassed the much-enduring Latin n.ition, seem cjuite 



384 LITERATURE AND ART 

transitory and of small account. Though for the time 
being, perhaps, Italy may be the victim of a crisis 
in the area zl politics that is produced by weariness, 
it is not an exhaustion that affects her inmost vitality, 
and having once surmounted such a crisis, she will 
honourably fill the place to which, among European 
Powers, she aspires and will, moreover, nobly perform 
her mission of promoting the constitutional progress, 
the material well-being and the moral elevation of her 
peoples. 




APPENDIX 

{See Chapter IX.) 

STATUTE OF CHARLES ALBERT. 

As the Statute promulgated by Charles Albert, on the 4th of March, 
1848, was afterwards extended by Victor Emmanuel II. to the rest of 
the peninsula, and is moreover the one in force to-day throughout the 
kingdom of Italy, it may be well to give its essential features here. 

Article 2. — The State is ruled by a monarchical and representative 
Government. The throne is hereditary, subject to the conditions of the 
Salic law. 

Article 3. — The legislative power will be exercised collectively by 
the King and two Chambers — the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. 

Article 4. — The person of the King is sacred and inviolable. 

Article 5. — The executive power belongs solely to the King who 
is the supreme head of the State. The King commands all military 
and naval forces and declares war ; he makes treaties of peace, of 
alliance, of commerce and the like, besides giving the Chambers 
notice of the same, as the interest and safety of the State shall dictate, 
and furthering all necessary communications to this end. Treaties 
affecting finance, or the disposal of national territory, will have no 
validity till they have obtained the assent of the Chambers. 

Article 6. — The King nominates to all the offices in the State, and 
makes the necessary decrees and regulations for the passing of the laws, 
without suspension of, or exemption from, their observance. 

Article 7. — The King alone sanctions and promulgates laws. 

Article S.— The King can remit and commute punishments. 

26 38s 



386 APPENDIX 

Article 9. — The King annually convokes the two Chambers ; he 
has power to prorogue their sessions and to dissolve the Chamber 
of Deputies, but in the event of such being dissolved, causes another to 
assemble within four months of its dissolution. 

Article 10. — The right to propose laws will be vested in the King 
and in each of the two Chambers. Therefore, all legislation relating to 
imposition of tributes, or the auditing of balance-sheets and accounts, 
will be first submitted to the Chamber of Deputies. 

Article 24. — All subjects, whatever be their title and rank, are 
equal in the eyes of the law ; all enjoy equal civil and political rights, 
and are admissible for civil and military posts with legally determined 
exceptions. 

Article 25. — All subjects contribute without distinction, proportion- 
ately to their income, to the Government taxes. 

Article 26. — Individual liberty is guaranteed ; no one can be 
arrested or brought to justice, except in cases foreseen by the law and 
within legally prescribed forms. 

Article 27. — The domicile is inviolable ; no domiciliary visit can 
be made, unless enforced by law and in the legally prescribed way. 

Article 28. — The press will be free, but the law will be empowered 
to punish any abuse of its liberty. 

Article 33. — The Senate is composed of an unlimited number 
of life-members — over forty years of age— who are nominated by the 
King and chosen from the following categories: (i) archbishops and 
bishops of the State ; (2) the president of the Chamber of Deputies ; 
(3) deputies who have filled their offices three times, or who have 
served for six years ; (4) ministers of state ; (5) ministerial secretaries 
of state ; (6) ambassadors ; (7) envoys-extraordinary after three 
years of office ; (8) the chiefs and presidents of the Court of 
Cassation and the Exchequer ; (9) chief presidents of the Court of 
Appeal; (10) the attorney-general of the Court of Cassation and the 
solicitor-general, after five years of office; (11) heads of the different 
Courts of Appeal, after three years of office; (12) councillors of the 
Court of Cassation and the Exchequer, after five years of office ; (13) 
general advocates or exchequer-officials in the Courts of Appeal, after 
five years of office; (14) ordinary military or naval officers, provided 
that major generals and rear-admirals have already filled their posts five 
years ; (15) councillors of state, after five years of office ; (i6) members 
of Divisional Councils, after three elections to their presidency; (17) 
general intendants, afler seven years of service ; (18) members of the 
Royal Academy of Science, provided they have been nominated thereto 



APPENDIX 387 

seven years ; (19) ordinary members of the Chief Commiltee of Public 
Instruction, after seven years of service; (20) those who_, by service or 
distinguished merit, have deserved well of their country; (21) persons 
who, by reason of wealth or industry, pay taxes to the amount of 
three thousand francs in the space of three years. 

Article 34.— Princes of the blood-royal have their rightful seat in 
the Senate and take precedence immediately after the President ; 
they enter the Senate at the age of iwenly-one and have a vote at that 
of twenty-five. 

Article 39. — The Elective Chamber is composed of deputies 
chosen by the electoral bodies, conformably to the law. 

Article 40. — No deputy can be admitted to the Chamber, unless 
he be a royal subject, liave reached the age of thirty, enjoy civil and 
political rights, and otherwise fulfil all the legal requirements of his 
office. 

Article 41. — Deputies represent the nation in general and not only 
the provinces by which they are elected. No imperative order can be 
issued to deputies by electors. 

Article 42. — Deputies are elected for five years : their functions 
cease to be valid when this term expires. 

Article 43. — The president, vice-president and secretaries of the 
Chamber of Deputies are nominated by the said Chamber, within its 
own precincts, at the beginning of every session, for the whole of that 
session's duration. 

Article 44. — If a deputy suspend the performance of his duties for 
any reason whatever, the body which has elected him will immediately 
be convoked for the purpose of making a new election. 

Article 45. — No deputy can be arrested, unless taken in flagrante 
delicto, during the sitting of the Chamber, nor brought to justice for a 
criminal offence, without the previous consent of that Chamber. 

Article 47. — The Chamber of Deputies has the right of impeaching 
the King's ministers and of summoning them before the High Court of 
Justice. 

Article 48. — The sessions of the Senate and the Chamber o* 
Deputies are opened and closed on the same dates. All assemblies of 
one Chamber, otherwise than at the time of the other's .session, are 
illegal, and their acts are entirely null and void. 

Ar'ITCle 49. --Senators and deputies, before being admiued tu the 
exercise of iheir functions, swear to be faithful to the King, to observe 



;SS 



APPENDIX 



loyally the Statute and laws of the State, and to fulfil their duties with 
one aim only, i.e.., the inseparable welfare of the King and Country. 

Article 50. — The offices of senator and deputy are not subject to 
any salary. 

Article 51. — Senators and deputies may not be cited before the 
tribunals on account of any opinions expressed or votes given by them 
in the Chamber. 








INDEX 



A 



Abba, Giulio Cesare, 366 
Aberdeen, Lord, 227 
Abruzzi, 78, 122, 2gy, 336 note 
Abyssinia, 326, 328, 330, 333 
Acqui, 37, 143 
Acton, John, 30 
Adda, fS4 
Adige, ^8, 167, 174, 176, 180, 

Adigrat, 331 

Adowa, 331, 332 

Adriatic, 206, 253, 262, 264 

Africa, 328 

Agordat, 328 

Ajaccio, 62 

Alberi, Eugenio, 356 

Alberoni, Cardinal, 2 

Albert, Archduke, 304 

Alberti, Vizzotto, 378 

Albertis, Sebastiano De, 377 

Albertone, General, 332 

Aleardi, Aleardo, 355 

Alfieri, Vittorio, effect of his 

dramas, 33, 34 ; tragedies, 26 ; 

quoted, 4, 350, 355, 359 
Alessandria, 37, 50, 84, 113, 242, 

251, 253, 259, 260 
Altamura, Francesco Saverio, 

380 
Amari, Enrico, arrested, 152 
Amari, Gabriele, arrested, 152 
Amari, Michele, 119, 152, 357 
Amba-Alagi, 330 



Amedeo, Prince, 306, 338 

Amicis, Edmondo De, 369, 370 

Ancona, 45, 103, 105, 206, 238, 
253, 280, 307, 308 

Andreoli, Giuseppe, 91 

Anita, Garibaldi's wife, 208, 210, 
211, 212 

Annunziata, Church of the, 82 

Aosta, 50 

Apulia, 336 note 

Appiani, Andrea, 351 

Aragon, Alfonso of, 72 note 

Aragonese dynasty, 31 

Arcole, battle of, 40 

Ardigo, Roberto, 382 

Arimondi, General, 332 

Armellini, 204 

Arno, 301 

Arrivabene, 70 

Ascoli Graziadio, 383 

Asmara, 327 

Aspromonte, 147, 300, 324 

Assab, 326 

Austerlitz, 52, 61 

Austria, 3, 12, 38, 43, 45, 53, 
59, 65, 66, 70, 73, 79, 84, 85, 
130, 141, 149, 159, 161, 174, 
192, 193, 194, 201, 204, 206, 
208, 212, 215, 218, 219, 222, 
230, 231, 233, 234, 238, 240, 
248, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 
257, 263, 269, 283, 296, 297, 
300, 303, 304, 306, 309, 313, 

323 
Avellino, 76 



3Sg 



390 



INDEX 



Avesani, i66 
Avignon, 41 



B 



Baccelli, Alfredo, 368 
Baccini, Ida, 370 note 
Bagnasco, Francesco, 152 
Balbo, Cesare, 119, 126, 129, 134, 

141, 219, 356 ; quoted, 56 
Baldissera, General, 332 
Balzico, Alfonso, 380 
Bandiera brothers, 122, 123 
Barabino Niccolo, 379 
Baratieri, General, 328, 330, 331, 

332 and note 
Barberi, Enrico, 379 
Barbiera, Raffaello, 366 
Baretti, Giuseppe, author, 6 
Barnabei, Felice, 364 
Barrili, Giulio, 370 
Bartolini, Lorenzo, 358, 374 
Bartolo, Adolfo, 367 
Barzaghi, 378 

Basilicata, 277, 297, 298, 336 note 
Bassano, 40 
Bassi, Ugo, 210 
Bava, Eusebio, 173, 195 
Bavaria, 60 
Bazzaro, Ernesto, 378 
Bazzaro, Leonardo, 378 
Beatrice (daughter of Hercules 

in-). 19 

Beatrice, singer of, 272 
Beauharnais, Eugene, 52, S9, 

60 
Becattini, Francesco, author, 24 
Beccaria, Angelo, 376 
Beccaria, Cesare, author, 9 
Belgioioso, house of, 8 
Belgium, 43, 102 
Belli, Luigi, 377 
Bellini, 119, 357 and }iote. 
Belloni, Giorgio, 377 
Beltrami, Eugenio, 382 
Bentinck, Lord William, 58 
Bentivegna, Francesco, 239 
Benvenuti, Cardinal, 103 
Berchet, Giovanni, 69, 102, 119, 

353; quoted, 101, 120 
Bergamo, 187, 260 



Bergonzoli, 378 

Berlin, 6, 7, 303 ; Congress of, 

122 
Bernard, St., passage of, 49, 50 
Bernetti, Cardinal, 127 
Bersezio, Vittorio, 361 
Bertani, Agostino, 270 
Berti, Domenico, 364 
Berti of Ravenna, 123 
Bertini, Giuseppe, 377 
Bertolini, Francesco, 362 
Besangon, 30 
Bezzecca, 307 
Bezzi, Bartolomeo, 378 
Bianca, Angelo Dall'Oca, 378 
Bianchi, Celestino, 365 
Bianchi, Mose, 377 
Bianchi, Nicomede, 362 
Biccocca, Valley of, 198 
Biglia, Giuseppe, 113 
Biseo, Cesare, 380 
Bismarck, 303 
Bistagno, 375 
Bixio, Nino, 270, 274 
Blaas, Eugenio De, 378 
Blasiis, Giuseppe De, 362 
Bliicher, 61 

Boccardo, Gerolamo, 382 
Boito, Arrigo, 382 
Boito, Camillo, 374 
Boggio, Pier Carlo, 365 
Bologna, 22, 38, 40, 41, 100, 105, 

159. 323, 345 and note, 346 
Bolza, Count, 165 
'Bomba, King,' 190 
Bompiani, Roberto, 380 
Bonacci - Brunamonti, Alinda^ 

368 
Bonaparte, Brothers, loi 
Bonaparte, Joseph, 53, 57 
Boncompagni, Carlo, 156 
Bonfadini, Romualdo, 362 
Bonghi, Ruggero, 155, 360 and 

note 
Bonnet, Nino, 211 
Borges, Don Jose, 298 
Bormida, 37, 143 
Borromeo, house of '^ 
Borsieri, 90 
Bosnia, ^^i}, 
Botta, Carlo, 48, 3511 and note 



INDEX 



39i 



f'.ottero, Giovanni Battista, 365 

Bourget, 371 

Bracco, Roberto, 372 

Braschi, Prince, 26 

Brenta, 40 

Brescia, 260, 300 ; resistance of 
to Austrians, 201 

Bressanin, 378 

Briganti, General, 277 

Brin, 342 

Brizio, Edoardo, 364 

Brofferio, Angelo, q8, 156 

Broglio, Emilio, 364 

Brondolo, 213, 214 

Bronzetti, Pilade, 280 

Brosses, Charles De, his impres- 
sions of Rome quoted, 23 

Brunetti, Angelo, 137 

Bruno, Faa Di, 308 

Bruzzi, Stefano, 379 

Bubna, 90 

Buffalora, 197, 260 

Buoncompagni, deputy, 290, 294 

Busseto, 376, 381 

Butti, Enrico, 378 

Byron, Lord, 354 



Cadorna, Raffaele, 314 

Caesars, the, 289 

Cagliari, 345 note ; Bishop of, 

224 
Cairoli brothers, 274 
Cairoli, Enrico, 311 
Cairoli, Giovanni, 311 
Calabria, 57, 62, 122, 123, 277, 

297, 298, 300, 336 notc^ 345 
Calandra, Davide, 377 
Calatafimi, 275, 323 
Calderini, Marco, 376 
Campania, 336 noic 
Campiani, Alceste, 380 
Campo Fomio, treaty of, 43, 51 
Canal, Bernardo, 231 
Cannizzaro, Stanislas, 382 
Canosa, 89, 103 
Canova, Antonio, sculptor, 26 

351, 35« 
Cantalamessa, Giulio, 374 
Cantu, 119, 353, 356 



Capecelatro, Cardinal' Alfonso, 

362 
Capitol, the, 279 
Qapodimonte, 28 
Cappellari, Mauro, 100 
Cappellini, Alfredo, 308 
Capponi, 119, 202, 356 
Caprera, 283, 300, 310, 312, 3n, 

323 
Caprile, Vincenzo, 380 
Capua, 278, 283, 324 
Capuana, Luigi, 370 
Caracciolo, Admiral Francesco, 

46 
Caracciolo, Marquis Domenico, 

32 
Carbonari, 75, 83, iii, 130 
Carbone, Domenico, 144 
Carcano, Filippo, 377 
Carducci Giosue, 359 and note, 

368 ; quoted, 323 
Carminati, Antonio, 378 
Caroline, Queen, 30, 46, 48, 57, 

58 
Carrera, Valentino, 372 
Carretto, Del, 96, 115 
Carutti, Domenico, 362 
Casale, 143, 252, 260 ; Congress 

at, 143 
Casanovo, Francesco, Mcinoric 

of, 14 
Caserta, palace of, 28, 269 
Casini, Tommaso, 367 
Castagneto, Count Di, 143 
Castelbarco, house of, 8 
Castelfrdardo, 280 
Castel Gandolfo, 315 
Castelnuovo, Enrico, 370 
Castellamare, 342 
Castelli Michelangelo, 156 
Castiglione delle Stiviere, 38 
Castillia, Gaetano, 90 
Catalani, 92 
Catania, 1 16, 202, 300 
Catholics, 288, 289, 290 
Cattaneo, Carlo, 165 
Cavalcaselle, 374 
Cavalleri, Vittt)rio, 377 
Cavallet'o, 231 
Cavalotti, Felice, 333, 372 
Cavedalis, Colonel, 192 



392 



INDEX 



Ciivour, Camillo, 156, 157, 167, 
226, 231, 233, 234, 236, 237, 
238, 239, 242, 244, 248, 249, 
256, 263, 266, 267, 277, 279, 
286, 288, 289, 294, 295, 296, 
303, 320, 365 ; justifies his 
policy, 249-259 ; on the Roman 
question, 286-294 

Cavriana, 262 

Celentano, Bernardo, 380 

Centofanti, 140 

Cesareo, 367 

Cesena, 105 

Cesenatico, 208 

Cena, Giovanni, 368 

Ceva, 37 

Chambord, Duke De, 232 

Charles III. of Naples, 27, 28 

Charles III. of Parma, 230, 232 

Charles Albert, 83, 84, 86, 91, 
92, 93, 99, 105, 113, 114, 115, 
120, 126, 129, 130, 132, 133, 
140, 142, 143, 144, 148, 155, 
157, 158, 167, 168, 172, 173, 
174. 175. 180, 181, 182, 183, 
184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 194, 
195) 197) 198, 200, 216, 220, 
242, 243, 249 note, 250 

Charles Emmanuel III., 1,4 

Charles Emmanuel IV., 45 

Charles Felix, 83, 84, 85, 86, 89, 
92, 98, 106 

Charles Ludovic of Bourbon, 
149, 230 

Checci, Eugenio, 366 

Chiala, Luigi, 362 

Chiarini, Giuseppe, 368 

Chiaves, Desiderato, 365 

Chieri, 295 

Chierici, Gaetano, 379 

Chinaglia, Luigi, 340 noic 

Chivasso, 258 

Cialdini, General, 280, 304, 307 

Ciardi, Guglielmo, 378 

Cibrario, Luigi, 356 

' Ciceruacchio,' 137, 210 

Cicogna, Emanuele, 356 

Cifariello, Filippo, 381 

Cilento, 96 

Cimarosa, 351 

Cipolla, Carlo, 362 



Cirillo, Domenico, 46 
Cisalpine Republic, 42, 43, 51 
Cispadane Republic, 40, 42, 43 
Civiletti, Benedetto, 381 
Civita-Vecchia, 312 
Civitella del Leonto, 284 
Clarendon, Lord, 238 ; speech 

of, 237 
Clement XIV., abolishes Jesuits, 

27 note 
Clotilde, Princess, 248 
Coalition, 330 
Cobden, Richard, 138 
Colautti, Arturo, 366 
Coleman, Enrico, 380 
Collegno, Provana Di, 83 
Colletta, General Pietro, 79, 119, 

356 
Comacchio, 211 
Como, 10 

Comparetti, Domenico, 364 
Condillac, 18 
Confalonieri, Federico, 68, 69, 

89, 90, 91, 165 ; death of, 149 
Confalonieri, Countess Teresa, 

89, 91 
Conforti, Francesco, 46 
Congregations, Lombard and 

Venetian, 150, 161 
Consalvi, Cardinal, 72 
Constantinople, 369 
Contarini, Carlo, imprisoned. 12 
Corcos, Vittorio, 379 
Corelli, Augusto, 380 
Corleone road, 276 
Cormons, 309 
Cornero, 156 
Cornuda, 176 
Correggio's St. Jerome, 38 
Correnti, Cesare, 149, 361, 364 
Corfu, 122, 123 
Corsica, 62, 347 ; ceded to Louis 

XV., 15 
Cortese, Federico, 380 
Cosenz, Enrico, 214, 276 
Cosenza, 123, 345 
Cosola, Demetrio, 376 
Cossa, Pietro, 372 
Costanzo, Giuseppe Aurelio, 368 
Cotrone, 123 
Cremona, Luigi, 382 



INDEX 



393 



Cremona, Tranquillo, 377 
Crescini, Vincenzo, 367 
Crimea, 234 
Crispi, Francesco, 270, 271, 274, 

327, 328, 334 ; ministry, 332, 

334 ; policy of. 333 
Crivellucci, Amedeo, 362 
Crocco, 297 
Crowe, 374 
Curtatone, 180, 182 
Custoza, 183, 257, 306 
Czarnowski, 195, 197, 198 

D 

D'Adda, house of, 8 
Dabormida, General, 332 
Dalhono, Edoardo, 380 
Dair Ongaro, PYancesco , 355 
Dalmatia, 11 

D'Ancona, Alessandro, 367 
D'Angennes, Monsignor, 157 
D'Annunzio, Gabriele, 371 
Dante 6th centenary of, 302 ; 

burial place of, 346 
D'Azeglio, Massimo, 67, 119, 124, 

127, 129, 219, 220, 224, 353, 

366 ; quoted, 66 
D'Azeglio, Roberto, 157 
Dego, lighting at, 37 
Delleani, Lorenzo, 376 
DeirOrto, Uberto, 377 
Denina, Carlo, 6 
Depretis, Agostino, 320, 327 
Desaix, General, 50, 51 
Dina, Giacomo, 365 
Dogali, 326 

Donizetti, Gaetano, 358 
D'Orsi, Achille, 381 
D'Ovidio, Francesco, 367 
Dupre, Giovanni, 374 
Durando brothers, 98 
Durando, Giacomo, 156 ; his 

work on Italy, 128 
Durando, General Giovanni, 174, 

176, 181 
Duse, Eleanora, 372 

E 
Elba, 61, 62 
Elizabeth Farnese, 16, 27 



Emilia, 48, 62, loi, 266,336 note, 

346, 379 
Emanuele, Duke of Aosta, 338 
England, 15, 104, 113, 171,233, 

236, 238, 250, 256, 277, 280, 

350, 358 
Erythrea, 327, 328, 330, 373 
Esposito, Gaetano, 380 
Este, House of, 18, 70 
Etna, 128, 171 
Etruria, Kingdom of, 51 
Europe, 14, 24, 61, 99, 222, 237, 

239, 240, 246, 249, 250, 252 

255, 270, 278, 287, 289, 349 

358, 381 



Fabretti, Ariodante, 364 
Fabris, Colonel Cecilio, 362 
Faccioli, Raffaele, 379 
Failly, General De, 313 
P'aldella, Giovanni, 362 
Faldi, Arturo, 379 
Falletti, Pio Carlo, 362 
Fambri, Paolo, 365 
Fanti, General, 280 
Farina, Salvatore, 370 
Farini, Luigi Carlo, 127, 266, 

296, 361 
Farnese family, 16 
Fattori, Giovanni, 379 
Favretto, Giacomo, 378 
Ferdinand of Austria, Archduke, 

19 

Ferdinand I. of Austria, 114 ; 
abdicates, 193 

Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, 18 

Ferdinand of Naples, 28, 30, 44, 
58, 62,76, 80, 81, 82, 89,92, 93, 
96 ; assumes title of Ferdi- 
nand I. of Two Sicilies, 72 

Ferdinand II. of Naples, 98, 115, 
116, 120, 146, 155, 178, 190,201, 
202, 206, 207, 226, 239, 269 

Ferdinand III. of Tuscany, 60, 

71, 95 ' ^ 

P'errara, 18, 38, 40, 41, 79, 206, 

304 
Ferrara, Francesco, 382 
Ferrari, Ettore, 380 



394 



INDEX 



P^errari, Giuseppe, 356 

P'errari, Paolo, 372 

Ferrari, Severino, 367 

Ferraris, Galileo, 382 

Ferraris, Maggiorino, 383 

F'erraguti, Arnaldo, 377 

Ferrigni, Pier Franceseo, 373 

Ferretli, Cardinal, 136 

Ferretti, Giovanni Mastai, 134 

Ferruzzi, 378 

Ficuzza, 58 

Filangieri, Gaetano, author, 31 

Filippi, Filippo, 365 

Filippini, Francesco, 377 

Finzi, 231 

Fiorelli, Giuseppe, 364 

Flamini, Francesco, 367 

Florence, 19, 86, 138, 140, 202, 
203, 265, 301, 302, 312, 314, 
315, 345 and iioh\ 346, 350, 

381, 383 
Fogazzaro, Antonio, 369, 370 
Follini, Carlo, 376 
P'ontanesi, Antonio, 376 
Forli, loi, 105 
Fortis, Leone, 365 
Foscolo, Ugo, 43 note, 59, 350 

and note, 351, 359 
Fossombroni, Count, 71 
Fracassini, Cesare, 380 
Fradeletto, Professor Antonio, 

379 
Fragiacomo, Pietro, 378 
France, 14, 15, 36, 104, 171, 195, 

201, 204, 206, 234, 236, 238, 242, 

244, 248, 252, 263, 267, 278, 283, 

288, 289, 294, 313, 322, 327, 

344, 347, 358 
Franchetti, Alberto, 382 
Franchetti, Augusto, 362 
Francis II., Emperor, 41, 65, 70, 

91 ; death of, 114 
PYancis Joseph, Emperor, 193, 

241, 260, 262, 263 
Francis IV. of Modena, 70, 91, 

92, 98, 99, loi, 103, 148 
Francis V. of Modena, 148, 230, 

265 note 
Francis I. of Naples, Vicar, 81 ; 

succeeds his father as king, 96 ; 

death of, 97 



Francis II. of Naples, 269, 270, 

277, 278, 283, 297, 298 
Frederic II., 6, 7; hats, 66; 

(the Great), 244 
Frederic Barbarossa, 120 
Fucini, Renato, 373 

G 

Gabelli, Aristide, 364 

Gabotto, Ferdinand, 362 

Gaeta, 191, 204,278,283 

Gaisruch, 150 

Gallenga, Antonio, 365 

Galliano, Major, 330, 332 

Gallina, Giacinto, 372 

Gallori, Emilio, 379 

Galluppi, Pasquale, 357 

Galvagno, 156 

Garda, Lake of, 38, 174, 2O2 

Garelli, Captain, 89 

Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 114, 186, 
206, 207, 208, 239, 244, 248, 
260, 267, 269, 270, 271, 274, 275, 
276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 282, 283, 
294, 295, 300, 301, 304, 307, 310, 
312, 313, 323, 324, 365, 377 ; 
Meniorie quoted, 208-212, 271- 
272 

Gavotti, Antonio, 113 

Gelli, Odoardo, 379 

Gemito, Vincenzo, 381 

Genga, Cardinal Delia, 97 

Genoa, 15, 16, 42, 49, 50, 59, 65, 
^7, 94/95, 112, 141^ 143, 218, 
259, 271, 276, 320, 345, 346, 

347 
Genoa, Duke of, 182, 198, 236, 

321 
Genovesi, Antonio, 31 
Germany, 306, 322, 323 
Giacometti, Paolo, 371, 372 
Giacomo, Salvatore Di, 366 
Giacosa, Giuseppe, 372 
Gibibrossa, mountains of, 324 
Gignous, Eugenio, 377 
Gilardi, 377 
Gioberti, Vincenzo, 113, 123, 126, 

127, 134, 155, 177,^233, 356; 

quoted, 124-125 
Gioia, 70 
Giordano, Umberto, 382 



INDEX 



395 



Giorgini, 140 

Gioli, the brothers, 379 

Giolitti, 328 

GiovagnoH, Raffaello, 362 

Girgenti, 79 

Giusti, 119,355 

Giuliano, Bartolomeo, 376 

Gladstone, Wilham Ewart, his 

letters to Lord Aberdeen 

quoted, 227-230 
Gnoli, Domenico, 368 
Goito, 180, 181, 257 
Gola, Emilio, 377 
Goldoni, Carlo, comedies of, 15, 

372 
Gonzaga dynasty, 8 
Gordigiani, Michele, 379 
Gorrini, Giacomo, 362 
Govean, Felice, 365 
Graf, Arturo, 367 
Graham, Sir James, 229 
Grandi, 378 

Graziani, Rear-Admiral, 192 
Grazioli, Bartolomeo, 231 
Gregory XVI., 100, 126, 133 
Greppi palace, 185 
Grita, Salvatore, 381 
Grossi, 119, 353 
Grosso, Giacomo, 377 
Gubernatis, Angelo De, 367 
Guerrazzi, Francesco Domenico, 

119, 140, 192, 202, 355 ; 

quoted, 354 
Guerrini, Olindo, 368 
Guerzoni, Giuseppe, 362 
Guglielmotti, Alberto, 361 
Gyulai, General, 258, 259, 260 

H 

Hamilton, 46 

Hamilton, Lady, 48 

Hapsburgh-Lorraine dynasty, 45 

Hayez, Francesco, 358 

Haynau, General, 201, 213 

Helena, St., 62 

Helene of Montenegro, Princess, 

33H 
Helene of Orleans, Princess, 338 
Herculaneum, 28 
Hercules HL, 18, 19 



Hess, Marshal, 262 

Herzegovina, 323 

Holland, 369 

Holy Alliance, "Jl, 81, 92 

Holy See, 105 

Hudson, English ambassador at 

Turin, 282 
Humbert L, 321, 338 
Humbert, Prince, 306 
Hungary, 193 

I 

Induno, the brothers, 374 

Inquisition, 8, 71 

Imola, 134 

Irolli, Vincenzo, 380 

Isonzo, 175 

Istria, II 

Italy, I, 2, 7, 14, 16, 32, 33, 34, 68, 
69, 71. 73, 74, 121, 128, 140, 141, 
151, 159, 161, 172, 186, 196, 201, 
203, 222, 230, 238, 239, 244, 248, 
252, 254, 257, 263, 264,266, 267, 
283, 287, 288, 289, 295, 303, 306, 
313, 315, 318, 319, 322, 323, 328, 
330, 333, 338, 342, 344, 353, 359, 
371,376, 378, 379, 38i, 383, 384 

Italy, Central, 98, 265, 266, 267, 
268, 269, 358 

Italy, Lower, 318 

Italy, Southern, 155, 318, 334,345, 
347, 355, 357 

Italy, Upper, 45, 59, 268, 334, 345, 

351, 358 

J 

Jacovacci, Francesco, 380 
Jena, 61 

Jerace, the brothers, 380 
Jesuits, Order of, 27 noic^ 71 ; 

expelled from Naples, 28, 126, 

129 
John, Negus of Abyssinia, 326 
Joseph II., 10, 22, 68 
Jouan, Gulf of, 61 

K 

Karl, Archduke, 41 
Kassala, 328, 333 
Keren, 327 



_> 



396 



INDEX 



La Cava, 196 

La Farina, Giuseppe, 140, 239, 

270, 362 
Lafayette, 98 
La Gala, Cipriano, 297 
La Gancia, convent of, 270 
La Grange, Luigi, 7 
La Mandriola, 211 
La Marmora, Alfonso, 226, 234, 

296, 303, 304, 321 
La Masa, 274 

Lambruschini, Cardinal, 127, 133 
Lamoriciere, General, 270, 279, 

280 
Lancerotto, Egisto, 378 
Lanciani, Rodolfo, 364 
Landi, General, 275 
Laneri, 89 

Lansdowne, Lord, 229 
Lanza, 296, 313 
Lateran, 315 

Lateran, St. John, facjade of, 26 
Latium, 208, 336 note 
Laurenti, Cesare, 378 
Legations, 188. 237 
Leggiero, 210, 211 
Leghorn, 19, 59, 203, 265 
Legnago, 167, 172 
Leiglieb, Claudio, 372 
Leo XII., 97, 100 
Leo XIII., 322 
Leoben, treaty of, 41 
Leoncavallo, Ruggero, 382 
Leopardi, Giacomo, 94, 352 ; 

philosophy of, 353 
Leopold, Peter, I., his reforms, 

20 ; called to imperial throne, 

22 ; regime of, 95 
Leopold 11. of Tuscany, 95, 

120, 140, 148, 158, 203, 264 

note 
Lesseps, Ferdinand De, 206 
Lessi, Tito, 379 
Lessona, Michele, 383 
Leva, Giuseppe, 362 
Leybach Congress, 80, 81 
Ligornetto, 375 
Liguria, 49, 54, 212, 218, 318, 336 

jzofc, 379 



Lioy, Paolo, 383 

Lisio, Count Moffa Di, 83 

Lissa, 307, 308 

Litta, house of, 8 

Lodi, victory at, 38 

Lojacono, Francesco, 381 

Lombardo-Venetian provinces, 

68, 89, 160, 161, 230, 240, 241 
Lombardy, 7, 8, 39, 42, 54, 65, 

150, 168, 169, 192, 196, 197, 

241, 260, 263, 268, 318, 336 

note, 344, 377 
Lombroso, Cesare, 382 
Lonato, 38 

London, 236, 288, 301, 369 
Lorenzetti, Carlo, 378 
Lorenzini, Carlo, 373 
Lorraine, Francis of, 19 ; house 

of, 51, 203 
Louis XV., 15 
Louis XVIIl., 61 
Louis Philippe, 98, 99, 102, 103, 

105, 159 
Lucca, 65 ; Republic of, 22 
Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi, 338 
Lungo, Isidore Del, 367 
Lupatelli of Perugia, 123 
Lyons, Convocation of, 51 

M 
Mably, 18 

Maccagnani, Eugenic, 380 
Maccari, Cesare, 379 
Macerata, 62 
Machiavelli, 23, 360 
Madama palace, 246 and note^ 

316 
Maddalena, 312 
Maffei, Marquis Scipione,address 

to Venetians, 12 
Magenta, 197 ; battle of, 260, 261 
Maggiore, Lake, 187, 196, 260 
Magni, 378 
Magra, 242 

Makaleh, 330, 331, 332 
Malatesta, Adeodato, 379 
Malghera, 213, 214 
Malta, 274 
Mameli, Goffredo, 207, 355 ; 

quoted, 170-171 
Mamiani, Terenzio, 104, 253, 356 



INDEX 



397 



Manara Luciano, at Milan, 164 ; 

at Rome, 207 
Mancini, Antonio, 380 
Manin, Daniele, 149, 150, 151, 

161, 162, 166, 181, 188, 192, 

213, 215, 239, 241 and note 
Manno, Antonio, 362 
Manno, Giuseppe, 356 
Mantegazza, Paolo, 383 
Mantovani, Dino, 374 
Mantua, 8, 38, 41, 60, 100, 167, 

172, 173, 180, 181, 182, 231 
Manzoni,'ii9, 353, 354, 370 ; his 

Pro;;;cssi S/)asz, 352 ; quoted, 164 
Marcello, Benedetto, music of, 15 
Marches, 5, 53, 54, 100, 208, 265, 

269, 278, 279, 336 note 
Marchesi, Salvatore, 381 
Mareb-Belesa-Muna line, 333 
Maremma, 20 
Marengo, battle of, 50 ; heroes 

of, 61 
Margherita, Count Solaro Delia, 

144, 145, 242, 249 note, 250, 

251, 253, 255 
Margherita, Queen, 321, 338 
Margotti, Don, 365 
Maria Christina of Savoy, 116, 

269 
Maria Theresa of Austria, 8, 10, 

19, 30, 68 
Maria Theresa of Savoy, 236 
Mariani, Pompeo, 377 
Marie Adelaide, 218, 236 
Marie Louise, Archduchess, 65, 

70, loi, 102, 149 
Marie Louise of Bourbon, 232 
Marinovich at Arsenal, 166 
Mark's, St., horses, 42, 215 ; 

Piazza, 162, 166 ; Republic, 

179 ; Standard, 193 
Marochetti, Carlo, 358 
Maroncelli, 70, 90, 91 
Marradi, Giovanni, 368 
Marsala, 274, 275 
Marseilles, 107, ill, 112, 130 
Marsili, Emilio, 378 
Martini, Admiral, 166 
Martini, Ferdinando, 373 
Marzano, Marquis of San, 83 
Mascagni, Pietro, 382 



Mascheroni, mathematician, 10 
Massarani, Tullo, 361 
Massari, Giuseppe, 362 
Massena, General, 49, 50 
Massowah, 326, 332 
Maurienne, i 
Maximilian, 241 
Mazzini, Giuseppe, 1 10, iii, 113, 

118, 122, 196, 203, 204, 320; 

adherents, 239 ; ideal, 230 ; 

letter to Charles Albert, 107- 

lio ; quoted, 87 
Mazzoni, 140, 192 
Mazzoni, Guido, 368 
Medici, 19, 20 
Medici, Giacomo, 207, 276 
Melegnano, 260 
Mem, 298 

Melzi, Francesco, 51, 52 
Menelik, 327, 328, 330, 331,332 
Menichini, 76 

Menotti,Ciro, 98, 99, 100, 103, 148 
Mentana, 312, 324 
Mentessi, Giuseppe, 378 
Mercadante, Saverio, 357 
Mercantini, quoted, 244-245 
Messina, 147, 190, 202, 277, 284, 

345 note 
Mestre, 193, 213 
Metternich, Prince, 65, 114, 141, 

152 
Michetti, P'rancesco Paolo, 380 
Michis, Pietro, 377 
Miglio, Francesco, 113 
Milan, 9, 32, 43, 52, 60, 69, 89, 

160, 167, 179 ; revolt in, 163- 

165, 183, 184, 185, 187, 230, 

241, 254, 260, 334, 345 and 

note, 346, 350, 351, 362, 374, 

375, 377 
Milanese, the, i ; under Austrian 

rule, 8 
Milano, Agesilao, 239 
Milazzo, 276, 277 
Milesi, Alessandro, 378 
Millesimo, fighting at, 37 
Milli, Giannina, 368 
Mincio, 59, 165, 172, 174, 175, 

180, 181, 182, 184, 262, 263, 

304, 306 
Minghetti, 296, 301, 320 



398 



INDEX 



IMinto, Lord, 144 

Miola, Camillo, 380 

Modena, 16, 18, 19, 60, 70, 84, 

102, 148, 151, 169, 192, 230, 

265, 267, 296 ; Duke of, 38, 

102 
Modena, Gustavo, 118, 372 
Molise, 336 note 
Molmenti, Pompeo, 362 
Monaci, Ernesto, 367 
Moncalieri, Proclamation of, 

220 
Mondovi, 37 

Mont Cenis Tunnel, i, 319 
Montanara, 180, 182 
Montanari, Count Carlo, 231 
Montanelli, Giuseppe, 100, 192 
Montebello, 259 
Montecitorio palace, 316 
Montefeltro, Padre Agostino Da, 

383 
Montenotte, fighting at, y; 
Monterotondo, 312 
Montesquieu, quoted, 3 
Monte Velino, 347 
Monteverde, Giulio, 375 
Monte-Video, 187 
Montezemolo, 156 
Monti, mason, 311 
Monti, Vincenzo, 26, 59, 350, 

351 
Monza, 309, 351 
Moradei, Arturo, 379 
Moravia, prisons of, 231 
Morazzone, 210 
Morea, loss of, 12 
Morelli, Domenico, 375, 380 
Morelli, Giovanni, 374 
Morelli, sub-lieutenant, 75, 89 
Moro, Domenico, 122, 123 
Morocco, 369 
Moroni, Gaetano, 127 
Morosini, Emilio, 207 
Mortara, 197, 198 
Morus, 23 
Mosso, Angelo, 382 
Mosto, 274 

Munari, Costantino, 91 
Murat, Joachim, 57, 59, 60, 62, 

7^, 75 
Muzzioli, Giovanni, 379 



N 



Naples, 8, 28, 30, 31, 32, 48, 53, 
56, 71, 78, 79, 81,82, 147, 151, 
154, 158, 171, 182, 190, 194, 
202, 227, 228, 269, 277, 278, 
279, 240, 282, 288, 296, 342, 
345, and note, 347, 356, 370, 
375 

Naples and Sicily, kingdom of, 
27 ; reunion of two crowns of, 
by Ferdinand Bourbon, 72 
and note 

Napoleon Bonaparte, 37, 38, 40, 
42, 43, 49, 50, 51, 52, 58, 60, 
61, 62, 65, 259 ; remarks on 
Italy, 342, 347 

Napoleon Prince Jerome, 248, 

265, 314 
Napoleon, Louis (Napoleon IIL), 
204, 207, 242, 244, 246, 256, 
258, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 
265, 266, 267, 283, 297, 300, 
301, 303, 306, 309, 310, 312, 

313, 314 

Nardi of Modena, 123 

Navona, Piazza, fountain of, 26 

Nazzari, Councillor, 150 . 

Neapolitan States, 27, 75, 279, 2'i,2 

Negri, Ada, 369 

Negri, Gaetano, 364 

Neipperg, Marshal, 70 

Nelson, 44, 46 

Nencioni, Enrico, 373 

Neo-Guelph party, 137 

Neri, Pompeo, 20 

Netti, Francesco, 380 

Niccolini, tragedian, 119, 355 

Nice, I, 37, 36, 200, 267, 278, 294 

Nicotera, Giovanni, 240 

Nietzsche's theory, 371 

Nievo, Ippolito, 274 

Nile, battle of the, 44 

Nitti, Francesco, 362 

Nittis, Giuseppe De, 380 

Nola quarter, 75, 76, 89 

Nono, Luigi, 378 

Nono, Urbano, 378 

Novara, 86, 197, 198, 200, 201, 
202, 213, 215, 216, 219, 236, 
242, 250, 259 ; railway, 260 



INDEX 



399 



Novati, Francesco, 367 
Novelli, Ermete, 372 
Novi, 50 
Nugent, General, 175, 176 

O 

O'Donnell, 163 

Oglio, 184 

Oietti, Ugo, 374 

Oliva, Domenico, 366 

Oporto, 20I 

Orleans, Duke of, 98 

Orsi, Dellino, 366 

Orsini, Felice, 242 

Osoppo, fortress of, 166, 181, 

187 
Ostrogoths, 346 
Oudinot, General, 206, 207 



Pacini, Giovanni, 357 

Padua, 161, 166, 181, 345 

Padula, 240 

Pagano, Mario, 31, 46 

Pagliano, Eleuterio, 377 

Pais, Ettore, 364 

Paisiello, 351 

Palermo, 48, 58, 148, 202, 270, 

275, 276, 345,3 47 ; revolutions 

in, 79, 154, 157 
Palestro, 259 
Palffy, 162, 166 
Palizzi, Filippo, 374, 375, 380 
Pallavicini, house of, 8 
Pallavicini, Colonel, 300 
Pallavicino, Giorgio, 90, 239, 

282 
Palmanova, 104, 166, 175, 181 
Palmerston, Lord, 296 
Pantheon, 311 
Panzacchi, Enrico, 368 
Paoli, Pasquale, Corsican hero, 

15 
Papal States, 53, 97, loi, 105, 138, 

159, 176, 203, 206, 236, 274, 

284, 298, 311, 314 
Parini, Giuseppe, 32, 349; quoted, 

33 ' 
Parioli, Monte, 311 



Paris, 7, 32, 59, 6l, 159, 233, 236, 
256, 369 ; Congress of, 236, 
237, 238, 240, 251, 252, 288 

Parma, 66, 70, 149, 169, 179, 192, 
230, 232, 265, 267, 296, 346 ; 
Bourbon dynasty at, 18 ; ceded 
to France, 51 ; duchy of, 16, 
60, 65, 151 ; Duke of, 38 ; 
Marie Louise leaves, loi ; re- 
instated in, 102 

Parthenopccan Republic, 45 

Pascoli, Giovanni, 368 

Pasini, Alberto, 376 

Pasolani, Count, 134 

Pasque Veronesi, 42 

Passalacqua, 200 

Pastrengo, 175, 257 

Paul IIL, Pope, 16 

Pavia, 161, 196, 345 ; university 
of, 9 

Pecci, Cardinal Gioachino, 322 

Peel, Sir Robert, 296 

Pellico, Silvio, 69, 70, 90 ; quoted, 

ii«. 119,353 
Pepe, General Florestano, 79 
Pepe, General Guglielmo, 76, 81, 

178, 179, 193, 215 
Pepm, 315 
Perez, Francesco, 364 ; arrest of, 

152 
Pergolesi, 33 
Perosi, Lorenzo, 382 
Perrone, 200 
Persano, Admiral, 277, 307, 308, 

309 
Peruzzi, 202 
Pesaro, Francesco, 14 
Peschiera, 167, 172, 173, 175, 180, 

181 
Peter, St., basilica of, 336 ; Piazza 

of, 26 ; successor of, 127 ; 

throne of, 134 
Petra, Giulio De, 364 
Petrarca, 367 
Petrella, Enrico, 357 
Philip of Bourbon, Don, 16 ; 

death of, 1 8 
Piacenza, 169, 183, 238, 253, 259 ; 

ceded to France, 51 ; duke- 
dom of, 16, 70 
Piave, 176, 307 



400 



INDEX 



Piazza Castello, 241 

Pica, Vittorio, 374 

Piccini, Giulio, 366 

Piedmont, i, 6, 36, 48, 66, 83, 84, 
85, 88, 92, 93, III, 105, 113, 
129, 130, 132, 158, 173, 179, 
181, 188, 193, 194, 195, 196, 
200, 201, 212, 215, 216, 218, 
219, 226, 230, 231, 233, 234, 
237, 239, 240, 242, 244, 248, 
252, 254, 255, 256, 263, 265, 
266, 269, 277, 278, 286, 303, 
318, 336 noie, 344, 356, 376, 
377 ; clergy in, number of, 4, 
6 ; re-action in, 69 ; revolution 
in, 88 

Piedmontese bourgoisie, 6 ; gov- 
ernment, 68 

Pier, Luigi, 16 

Pignatelli, General, 44 

Pigorini, Luigi, 364 

Pilo, Rosalino, 270 

Pio-Clementino, Museo, 26 

Pisa, 320, 345 ; university of, 20, 
180, 367 ; science congresses 
inaugurated at, 120 

Pisacane, Carlo, 240 

Pisani, Carlo, 365 

Pisani, Giorgio, imprisoned, 12 

Pittara, Carlo, 376 

Pius VI., Pope, 26 

Pius VII., 27, 53 note^ 72, 60, 97 

Pius VIII., 97, 100 

Pius IX., 134, 136, 137, 138, 142, 
143, 144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 
150, 158, 159, 172, 176, 177, 
191, 204, 230, 269, 300, 314, 
321, 322 

Pizzo, 62 

Plombieres, 244, 267 

Po, loi, 174, 179, 183, 196, 208, 
212, 253, 259, 301, 304, 309 

Podesti, Francesco, 380 

Poerio, Alessandro, 193, 355 

Poerio, Carlo, 202, 228-229 

Poerio, Giuseppe, 82 

Poland, 195, 197 

Poma, Carlo, 231 

Pompeii, 28 

Ponchielli, Amilcare, 382 

Pontine marshes, 26 



Porpora, 33 
Porta Pia, 314 
Porta San Paolo, 311 
Porta Tosa, fighting at, 164 
Porta Vittoria, 164 
Portugal, 200 
Postiglione, Salvatore, 380 
Potenza, 2-;^ 
Praga, Emilio, 368 
Praga, Marco, 373 
Prague, 309 
Prati, 119, 355 
Predari, 156 

Presburg, peace of, 52, 53 
Procida, Giovanni Da, 152 
Prussia, 73, 79, i04, 264, 283, 303, 
306, 309, 313 ; king of, 92, 286 
Puccini, Giacomo, 382 
Pugliese-Levi, Clemente, 376 

Q 

Quadrelli, Emilio, y]% 
Quadrilateral, 166, 167, 172, 263, 

264, 296, 304 
Quadrilateral fortresses, 175 
Quadrone, Giovan Battista, 376 
Quarto, village of, 271 
Querini, Angelo, imprisoned, 12 
Quirinal, 158, 191, 316 

R 

Radetsky, 164, 166, 174, 175, 180, 

181, 183, 188, 196, 197, 200 

213, 215, 216, 258 
Ragusa, Vincenzo, 381 
Rajna, Pio, 367 

Ramorino, Colonel, 113, 196, 197 
Ranalli, Ferdinando, 362 
Rapisardi, Mario, 368 
Ras Alula, 326 
Ras Mangascia, 330 
Rasoni, Giovanni, 69 
Rattazzi, 296, 300, 310, 312, 320 
Ravenna, 38, 346 
Recanati, 352 
Reggio, 19, 40, 54, 70, 99, 147, 

169 
Reggio Di Calabria, 278, 345 

note 
Reinier, 163, 218 



INDEX 



401 



Renier, Rodolfo, 367 

Renzis, Baron Franccscu De, 

373 
Rhine, 43 
Ricasoli, Bettino, 140, 158, 202, 

265, 266, 296 
Ricci brothers, 357 
Ricci, Corrado, 374 
Ricci, Scipione, bishop of Pistoia, 

20 
Riciotti, Nicola, 123 
Ricotti, Ercole, 15^1, 356 
Rieti, Austrians at, 81, 84 
Rimini, battle of, 103 ; episode 

of, 127 
Rinaudo. Costanzo, 362 
Rini, 88 

Ristolti, Leonardo, 377 
Ristori, Adelaide, 372 
Rivalta, Augusto, 379 
Rivarola, Cardinal, 97 
Rivoli, 41, 183 

Robert of Parma, 232, 265 // )tc 
Rocca, General Morozz.) Delia, 

366 
Rocco of Lugo, 123 
Romagna, 41, 48, 54, 100, 103, 

122, 265, 266, 267, 269, 279, 

346 

Romagnuli, Giuseppe, 379 

Romagnosi, 69, 70 

Rome, 10, 20, 2^, 24, 26, 44, 155, 
158, 171, 176, 203, 204, 200, 
207, 210, 211, 224, 278, 286, 
287, 288, 289, 294, 297, 298, 
300, 301, 310, 311, 313, 3i5> 
321, 336, 338, 345 and note, 
347> 35^^ 380, 381, 383 

Romeo, Domenijo, 147 

Romilli, Count, 150 

Ronconi, 94, 95 

R(jsa, Ercole, 380 

Roselli, 207 

Rosmini, Antonio, 355, 356 

Rossaroll, Cesare, 214 

Rossetti, Gabriele, 119, 355 ; 
quoted, 78, 80 

Rossi, Ernesto, 372 

Rossi, Giovan Battista De, 364 

Rossi, Pellegrino, 136, 191 

Rossini, 119, 357 and nok\ 358 



Rotta, Silvio, 378 

Rouher, 313 

Rovetta, Gerolamo, 371 

Rubattino company, 271, 326 

Rubiera, Castle of, 91 

Rucillai, Giulio, 20 

Rudini, Marquis Di, }^2'6, 333 

Ruffini, Giovanni, 94, 113, 353 

Ruffini, Jacopo, 112, 113 

Ruffo, Cardinal, 46 

Ruggero, Ettore De, 364 

Russell, Lord, 229, 296 ; letter 

of, quoted, 282-283 
Russia, 45, Ti, 79, 104, 256, 283, 

286 ; Czar of, 9 : 
Rutelli, Mario, 381 



Sadowa, 306 

Saffi, 204 

Saint-Bon, 342 

Salasco, General Di, 173 

Salemi, 2']~^ 

Salerno, 96, 240, 343 note 

Salvagnoli, Vincenzo, 140 

Salvini, Tommaso, 372 

San Carlo, theatre of, 28 

San Fermo, 260 

San Marino republic, 208 

San Martino, 262, 269 

San Stefano, 152 

Sanctis, Francesco De, 367 

Sant' Alberto, 212 

Santa Lucia, 175, 180, 257 

Santa Maria, 324 

Santarosa, Pietro Derossi Di, 

156, 157 
Santarosa, Santorre Di, 86, 88 ; 

son of, 201 
Santena, 295 
Santoro, Rubens, 380 
Sapri, 240, 270 
Saracco, Giuseppe, 340 
Sardinia, 2 and notc^ 4, 252, 231, 

238, 284, 336 note, 347 ^ 
Sarnico, 300 
Sarti, Diego, 379 
Sartorio, Aristide, 380 
Savona, no 
Savonarola, 369 



27 



402 



INDEX 



5-'avoy, 4, 37, 36, 65, 113, 196, 

2(3"] ; crown of, 215 
Savoy dynasty, i, 168, 220, 283 
Savoy expedition, 113, 114 
Savoy, House of, 2 and note, 

190, 218, 220, 223, 243, 267, 

295 
Savoy monai^chy, 264 
Savoy rulers, 66 
Scala, La, Confalonieri at, 90 
Scala, La, theatre of, 9 
Scarfoglio, Edoardo, 366, 370 
Scarsellini, Angelo, 231 
Schamyl, 143 
ScheriUo, Michele, 367 
Schiaparelli, Giovanni, 382 
Scialoia, Antonio, 202 
Sciesa, 230 

Sclopis, Federico, 168 
Scott, Sir Walter, 352 
Sciuti, Giuseppe, 381 
Sedan, 314 

Segantini, Giovanni, 378 
Sella, Quintino, 319 
Selvatico, Riccardo, 378 
Senafeh, 330 
Serao, Matilde, 370 
Serbelloni, house of, 8 
Serristori barracks, 311 
Sesia, i, 197, 258 
Settimo, Ruggero, 154 
Settembrini, Luigi, 202, 366 ; 

quoted, 146 
Sforza regime, 8 
Sforzesca, 197 
Shoa, 327 

Siccardi, Count, 224 
Siccardi law, 226 
Sicilian Vespers, 31, 72 note, 

152 
Sicilies, Two, 72 and uoU\ 81, 

238 
Sicily, 8, 31, 53, 57 72 and note, 

73> 79, 116, i5"i, 171, 182, 194, 

201, 239, 270, 274, 275, 288, 

300, 311,318, 334> 336 note, 347, 

357, 381 
Siena, 192 

Siena, university of, 20, 180 
Signorini, Telemaco, 379 
Siivati, 75, 89 



Simplon, 318 note 

Sineo, Riccardo, 156 

Sirtori, 214, 274 

Solferino, 262, 269 

Somali peninsula, 327 

Sommacampagna, 257 

Soudan, 326 

South America, 186, 369 

Spain, 16, 27, 28, 3 1, 88, 93, 201, 

204, 347, 369 
Spallanzani, naturalist, 9 
Spaventa, Silvio, 202 
Speraz, Beatrice, 370 note 
Speri, Tito, 231 
Spezia, 242, 342 ; gulf of, 300 
Spielberg, fortress of, 90 
' Stecchetti, Lorenzo,' 368 
Stefani, Vincenzo De, 378 
Sterbino, Gulf of, 212 
Stoppani, Antonio, 383 
Stradella, college of, 320 
Stratta, Carlo, 377 
Superga, 201 }iotc, 295 
Suvaroff, 45 
Switzerland, 130, 187, 210, 284 

350 
Syracuse, Ii6 



Tabacchi, Odoardo, 377 
Tabarrini, Marco, 364 
Tagliamento, 41, 187 
Tanaro, 259 

Tanucci, Bernardo, 27, 28, 30 
Taormina, 202 
Taranto, 342 

Tarchetti^ Iginio Ugo, 368 
Tartini, 33 

Tarvisio, victory at, 41 
Tavani-Arquati, Giuditta, 312 
Tavern ier, Andrea, 376 
Tazzoli, Enrico, 231 
Tchernaya, 236, 258 
Teano road, 283 
Teghetoff, 307 
Telamone, 274 
Tenca, Carlo, 361 
Termini, 239 

'Thousand, The,' 271, 272, 274, 
275,311 



INDEX 



46S 



Tiber, loi, 301, 311 
Ticino, i, 7, 85, 86, 129, 167, 185, 
196, 197, 242, 258, 259, 260, 

374 
Tigre, 330, 333 
Tillot, Guillaume Du, 18, 30 
Tito, Ettore, 378 
Tognetti, 311 
Tolentino, treaty of, 41 
Toma, Giovacchino, 380 
Tommaseo, 119, 151, 161, 162, 

215, 355 

Tommasi, Adoifo, 379 

Tommasi, Angelo, 379 

Tommasini, Oreste, 362 

Tonelli, 90 

Torelli, Achille, 373 

Torraca, Francesco, 367 

Torre, prison of the, 113 

Torriani, Maria, 370 note 

Toselli, Major, 330 

Tosti, Luigi, 361 
■Toulon, 312 

Tour, Count De La, 130, 132 

Tour, General De La, 86 

Trastevere quarter, 311 

Traversi Brothers, 373 

Tre Porti, 213 

Trent, 40, 307 

Trentacoste, Domenico, 381 

Trentino, 260, 307, 323, 324 

Treves, Virginia, 370 note 

Trevi, fountain of, 26 

Treviso, 166, 181 

Triepoli, painting of, 15 

Trieste, 254 

Trinacria, 272 

Trivulzio, house of, 8 

Trocadero, 93, 106 

'Troubetzkoyj 378 

Troya, 119, 357 

Tunis, 240, 323 

• Turin, 3, 61, 66, 84, 142, 143, 
157) 197) 19^! 201 note, 216, 
218, 224, 239, 241, 246, 248, 
258, 266, 279, 284, 286, 288, 
294, 295, 301, 302, 345 and 
note, 346, 375 

Turin Exhibition, 335 

Turkey, 24 

Turletti, 377 



Tiirr, 274 

Tuscany, 19, 22, 51, 53, 71, 127, 
138, 144, 151, 155) 202, 265, 
266, 296, 312, 318, 336 note, 

347- 356, 359, 373, 374 
Tyrol, 38, 40, 174, 182, 304 
Tyrrhenian Sea, i, 272 

U 

Udine, 176 ; capitulation of, 166 
Ugoni, Filippo, 69 
Umberto, Count of Salemi, 338 
Umbria, 41, 100, 265, 269, 278, 

279, 336 note 
United States, 284 
Ussi, Stefano, 379 
Utopias, 23 
Utrecht, peace of, 2 note 

V 

Valence, 44 note 

Vannucci, 119, 140, 356 

Vannutelli, Scipione, 380 

Varese, 260, 311, 324 

Varignano, 300 

Vassallo, Luigi Arnaldo, 366 

Vasto, 78 

Vatican, 315, 336 

Vela, Vincenzo, 375 

Velletri, 207 

Venaissin, 41 

Venerucci of Forli, 123 

Venetia, 11, 41, 43, 48, 54. 65, 
161, 169, 179, 181, 194, 196, 
230, 241, 267, 303, 307, 309, 
336 note, 356 

Venice. 11, 12, 13, 14, 65, 104, 
150, 151, 161, 162, 165, 166, 179, 
x8i, 182, 192, 193, 194, 208, 
212, 213, 214, 215, 231, 241, 
254, 297, 298, 306, 342, 346, 
362, 378 

Ventura, 137 

Venturi, Adoifo, 374 

Vercelli, 259 

Verdi, 120, 381-382 

Verga, Giovanni, 370 

Verona, 40, 41, 42, 166, 167, 172, 
17^, 176, 180; Congress of, 
■}2\ y3 



404 



INDEX 



Veni, Alessandio, 9, 26 

Verri, counf Pietro, 26 

Versailles, court of, 3 ; splen- 
dours of, 28 

Vertunni, Achille, 380 

Vesuvius, 28 

Viareggio, 22 

Vicenza, 176, 18 r, 182 

Vicini, Luigi, $cc Da Montefeltro 

Victor Amadeus, II., 2 note, 31 

Victor Amadeus, III., 4, 7, 37 

Victor Emmanuel I., 60, 83, 116 ; 
abdicates, 84 ; returns to Pied- 
mont, 67 

Victor Emmanuel II., 2 note, 
200, 215, 216, 218, 219, 236, 
246, 248, 259, 260, 262, 263, 
266, 267, 269, 270, 275, 277, 
278, 279, 280, 282, 283, 284, 
287, 295, 304, 306, 309, 314, 
315, 320, 321, 365 ; proclama- 
tions of, 220-223, 257-258 

Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of 
Naples, 338 

Vienna, 41, 58, 70, 73, 99, 102, 
162, 168, 304, 307, 309 ; Con- 
gress of, 6r, 65 ; peace of, 19 

Vieusseux, 95, 356 

Vigevano, 197 

Viglia, 96 

Vignale, 216 

Villa Marina, Marquis Di, 144, 

145, 277 
Villafranca, 263 ; treaty of, 265, 

267 
Villari, Pasquale, 360 and note, 

361 ; on Nelson, 46 note ; on 

Morelli, 375 
Vinea, Francesco, 379 
Visconti, Ennio Quirino, 26 
Visconti, house of, 8 
Vittorio, Count of Turin, 338 



Vochieri, Andrea, 113 

Volta, Alessandro, physician 9 

Volturno, 278, 280 

W 

Wagram, 61 
Warsaw, 286 

Waterloo, 62 ; battle of, 61 
Walewski, 236, 238 
Wellington, veterans of, 61 
William, King (of Prussia), 303 
Wurmser, retreat of, 38 ; be- 
sieged at Mantua, 40 

X 

Ximenes, Ettore, 381 

Y 

'Young Italy,' Society of, 
founded, 112 



Zacconi, Ermete, 372 
Zambelli, Giovanni, 231 
Zanardelli, Giuseppe, 340 and 

note 
Zanetti-Miti, 378 
Zannini, Dr., 212 
Zezzos, Alessandro, 378 
Zichy, military commandant, 

162, 166 
Zocchi, Emilio, 379 
Zotto, Antonio Dal, 378 
Zuccari, Anna Radius, 370 note 
Zucchi, General, 103, 104, 176 ; 

set at liberty, 166 
Zumbini, Bonaventura, 367 
Zurich, peace concluded at, 265 



The Story of the Nations. 



Messrs. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS take pleasure in 
announcing that they have in course of publication, in 
co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, of London, a 
series of historical studies, intended to present in a graphic 
manner the stories of the different nations that have 
attained prominence in history. 

In the story form the current of each national life is 
distinctly indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy 
periods and episodes are presented for the reader in their 
philosophical relation to each other as well as to universal 
history. 

It is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to 
enter into the real life of the peoples, and to bring them 
before the reader as they actually lived, labored, and 
struggled — as they studied and wrote, and as they amused 
themselves. In carrying out this plan, the myths, with 
which the history of all lands begins, will not be over- 
looked, though these will be carefully distinguished from 
the actual history, so far as the labors of the accepted 
historical authorities have resulted in definite conclusions. 

The subjects of the different volumes have been planned 
to cover connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive 
epochs or periods, so that the set when completed will 
present in a comprehensive narrative the chief events in 
the great Story OF THE Nations; but it is, of course, 
not always practicable to issue the several volumes ii) 
their chronological order. 



THE STORY OF THE NATIONS. 



The ''Stories" are printed in good readable type, and in 
handsome i2mo form. They are adequately illustrated and 
furnished with maps and indexes.. Price per vol., cloth, $1.50 ; 
half morocco, gilt top, $1.75. 

The following are now ready : 



GREECE. Prof. Jas. A. Harrison. 
ROME. Arthur Gilman. 
THE JEWS. Prof. James K.Hosmer. 
CHALDEA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
GERMANY. S. Baring-Gould. 
NORWAY. Hjalmar H. Boyesen. 
SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and Susan Hale. 
HUNGARY. Prof. A. Vambery. 
CARTHAGE. Prof. Alfred J. Church. 
THE SARACENS. Arthur Gilman. 
THE MOORS IN SPAIN. Stanley 

Lane-Poole. 
THE NORMANS. Sarah Orne Jewett. 
PERSIA. S. G. W. Benjamin. 
ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. Geo. Raw- 

linson, 
ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. J. 

P. Mahaify. 
ASSYRIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
THE GOTHS. Henry Bradley. 
IRELAND. Hon. Emily Lawless. 
TURKEY. Stanley Lane-Poole, 
MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. 

Z. A. Ragozin. 
MEDIiEVAL FRANCE. Prof. Gus- 

tave Masson. 
HOLLAND. Prof. J. Thorold Rogers, 
MEXICO. Susan Hale. 
PHCENICIA. Geo. Rawlinson. 
THE HANSA TOWNS. Helen Zim- 

mern. 
EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. Alfred J. 

Church. 
THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. Stan- 
ley Lane-Pool. 
RUSSIA. W. R. Morfill. 
THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W, D. 

Morrison. 
SCOTLAND. John Mackintosh. 
SWITZERLAND. R, Stead and Mrs. 

A. Hug. 
PORTUGAL. H. Morse-Stephens. 
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. C. W. 

C. Oman. 
SICILY. E. A. Freeman. 
THE TUSCAN REPUBLICS. Bella' 

Duffy. 
POLAND. W. R. Morfill. 
PARTHIA. Geo, Rawlinson. 



JAPAN. David Murray. 

THE CHRISTIAN RECOVERY OF 

SPAIN, H, E, Watts, 
AUSTRALASIA. Greville Tregar- 

then. 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. Geo. M. 

Theal. 
VENICE. AletheaWiel. 
THE CRUSADES. T. S. Archer and 

C. L. Kingsford. 
VEDIC INDIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
BOHEMIA. C. E. Maurice. 
CANADA. J. G. Bourinot. 
THE BALKAN STATES. W^illiam 

Miller. 
BRITISH RULE IN INDIA. R. W. 

Frazer. 
MODERN FRANCE. Andre Le Bon. 
THE BUILDINGOF THE BRITISH 

EMPIRE. Alfred T. Story. Two 

vols. 
THE FRANKS. Lewis Sergeant. 
THE W^EST INDIES. Amos K. 

Fiske. 
THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND IN 

THE 19TH CENTURY. Justin 

McCarthy, M. P. Two vols. 
AUSTRIA, THE HOME OF THE 

HAPSBURG DYNASTY, FROM 

128a TO THE PRESENT DAY. 

Sidney \Vhitman. 
CHINA. Robt. K. Douglass. 
MODERN SPAIN. Major Martin A, 

S. Hume. 
MODERN ITALY. Pietro Orsi. 

Other volumes in incparation are; 

THE UNITED STATES, 1775 1897. 

Prof. A. C. McLaughlin. Two 

vols. 
BUDDHIST INDIA. Prof. T. W. 

Rhys-Davids. 
MOHAMMEDAN INDIA. Stanley 

Lane-Poole. 
THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 

Helen A. Smith. 
WALES AND CORNWALL. Owen 

M. Edwards 



Heroes of the Nations. 



EDITED BY 



EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., 

Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 



A Series of biographical studies of the lives and work 
of a number of representative historical characters about 
whom have gathered the great traditions of the Nations 
to which they belonged, and who have been accepted, in 
many instances, as types of the several National ideals. 
With the life of each typical character will be presented 
a picture of the National conditions surrounding him 
during his career. 

The narratives are the work of writers who are recog- 
nized authorities on their several subjects, and, while 
thoroughly trustworthy as history, will present picturesque 
and dramatic " stories " of the Men and of the events con- 
nected with them. 

To the Life of each " Hero " will be given one duo- 
decimo volume, handsomely printed in large type, pro- 
vided with maps and adequately illustrated according to 
the special requirements of the several subjects. The 
volumes will be sold separately as follows : 

Large 12°, cloth extra $1 50 

Half morocco, uncut edges, gilt top . . . i 75 



HEROES OF THE NATIONS. 



A series of biographical studies of the lives and work of 
certain representative historical characters, about whom have 
gathered the great traditions of the Nations to which they 
belonged, and who have been accepted, in many instances, as 
types of the several National ideals. 

The volumes will be sold separately as follows : cloth extra, 
$1.50 ; half leather, uncut edges, gilt top, $1.75. 

I'he following are now ready : 



NELSON. By W. Clark Russell. 
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. By C. 

R. L. Fletcher. 
PERICLES. By Evelyn Abbott. 
THEODORIC THE GOTH. By 

Thomas Hodgkin. 
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. By. H. R. 

Fox-Bourne. 
JULIUS CiESAR. By W. Warde 

Fowler. 
WYCLIF. By Lewis Sergeant. 
NAPOLEON. By W^. O'Connor Mor- 
ris. 
HENRY OF NAVARRE. By P. F. 

Willert. 
CICERO. By J. L. Strachan-David- 

son. 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By Noah 

Brooks. 
PRINCE HENRY (OF PORTUGAL) 

THE NAVIGATOR. By C. R. 

Beazley. 
JULIAN THE PHILOSOPHER. 

By Alice Gardner. 
LOUIS XIV. By Arthur Hassall. 
CHARLES XII. By R. Nisbet Bain. 



LORENZO DE' MEDICI. By Ed- 
ward Armstrong. 

JEANNE D'ARC. By Mrs. Oliphant. 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. By 
Washington Irving. 

ROBERT THE BRUCE. By Sir 
Herbert Maxwell. 

HANNIBAL. By W. O'Connor Mor- 
ris. 

ULYSSES S. GRANT. By William 
Conant Church. 

ROBERT E. LEE. By Henry Alex- 
ander White. 

THE CID CAMPEADOR. By H. 
Butler Clarke. 

SALADIN. By Stanley Lane-Poole. 

BISMARCK. ByJ. W. Headlam. 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT. By 
Benjamin I. Wheeler. 

CHARLEMAGNE. By H. W. C. 
Davis. 

OLIVER CROMWELL. By Charles 
Firth. 

DANIEL O'CONNELL. By Robert 
Dunlop. 

RICHELIEU. By James B. Perkins, 



Other volumes in preparation are : 



MOLTKE. By Spencer ■Wilkinson. 

JUDAS MACCAB.ffi;US. By Israel 
Abrahams. 

HENRY V. By Charles L. Kings- 
ford. 

SOBIESKI. By F. A. Pollard. 

ALFRED THE TRUTHTELLER. 
By F. York-Powell. 



FREDERICK II. By A. L. Smith. 
MARLBOROUGH. By C. W. C, 

Oman. 
RICHARD THE LION-HEARTED. 

By T. A. Archer. 
WILLIAM THE SILENT. By Ruth 

Putnam. 
JUSTINIAN. By Edward Jenks. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, Publishers, New York and London. 



SEP -0 I9'i2 



MAR 26 1902 




020= 129 735 7 






mm 



iiis-i 



iPI 

l^i'uwHiiiii'lii ' 

mm 



